Return of the Four Sages 1: Royal Flush
by Hip Neptune
Summary: When four archaeologist-adventurers stumble upon an ancient temple and its artifacts in Desert Land, what they reckon was an interesting nugget of newly-gained knowledge turns into a major conspiracy threatening to consume them... And the world. Part 1 of the Return of the Sages Apocalyptic series.
1. Ancient Marvels

Ninth Age: 27 Geline, Year 865,471

And so, it happens again. A new age is upon us, and there's nothing left in my power as a Sage to stop the progression.

I write this as a desperate plea. As a last-ditch effort to reverse evil's vise hold from our blessed planet before The Evil One takes over. If she succeeds in taking over, the world, as we now know it, will cease to exist.

I wish to pour out my thoughts and my heart on this subject, but time shows written history will go against my wishes. So, please come to my temple, and we will discuss the issue and potential solutions free from historical corruption. Let the Four Directional Stonekoopa of the north, east, south and west guide you.

I hope to see you soon, even if not in this realm.

Tenebris, Sage of the Cosmos

* * *

 **Return of the Four Sages**

 **Book 1**

 **Royal Flush**

* * *

Summertime approaches the Mushroom Kingdom; while each land of the mystical continent faces devastating heat waves during the dog days, they all pale in comparison to the Koopahari potion of Desert Land. From the terrible humidity-influenced heat indices of tropical southern Desert Land to the baking dry heat of subtropical northern Desert Land, the perilous Sun plagues the Land with its angry rays much to the annoyance and suffering of its denizens.

Still, despite the unfavorable conditions, four determined journeyers sojourn through the rolling hills of the Koopahari accompanied by a large ostro-pulled wagon. The piercing heat, tornado-like dust devils and sudden haboobs fail to scare them away from their desires of uncovering the many secrets of the familiar, yet strange Koopahari.

A middle-aged green-shelled koopa troopa, none other than Professor Kolorado, guides both the wagon and the expedition. Multiple years since Mario's time in Koopa Village past, but Kolorado's unquenchable lust for treasure and adventure remain if not intensified. Despite needing to be rescued by Mario during such events, he never found the need to learn to better his fighting until Mario found his father dead in Hooktail's Castle. Ever since that fateful discovery, Kolorado's also been training in multiple fighting styles such as mixed martial arts.

"According to Frankly, it should be... Around here? Are we at the right spot, Goombella?" Kolorado questioned the pink goomba next to him.

"We're close! Maybe a few miles off! Where else do the eyes of the Four Directional Stonekoopa cross? It's literally IMPOSSIBLE for it to be anywhere else!"

Like Kolorado, Goombella's also a staunch adventurer, but such a trait only transpired after she aided Mario in defeating the X-Nauts and the Shadow Queen in their world-takeover scheme. Ever since those events, Goombella finished her Bachelor's in Archaeology and her Master's in Archaeology and is now a Ph.D. student in Archaeology and Ancient Studies with Professor Frankly as her advisor. She spends her time adventuring with either Frankly or Kolorado, uncovering the many mysteries of Plit and its ancient civilians. Desert Land's no exception; her desire for knowledge and discovery trumps her want for an air-conditioned study area.

"I hope you're right. Many mysteries of Desert Land and the Dry Dry Desert area will be answered by the Temple of Tenebris, once we find it," Kolorado stated before turning his head towards the back of the wagon, "Get the spades in easy reach, and get the guns ready in case animals or bandits threaten us."

One of the figures, a blue-shelled koopa troopa, gives Kolorado a thumbs-up before reaching for and cocking a hunter's rifle. The koopa troopa, Kooper, aspires to be a world-famous archaeologist like his neighbor Kolorado, and for many years after Mario's visit to Koopa Village, Kooper's been interning for Kolorado. Wanting to move further up the rungs, Kooper then decided to get his Bachelor's in Ancient History and Archaeology at Koopa University, where Kolorado's research laboratory's based. Ever since graduating, he's also been traveling with Kolorado and Goombella on their excavations and research, although he's not as experienced as the two of them.

The fourth figure, a dark-scaled koopa portraying a grey head and shell, smirks at the rifle's cocking before he grabs his camera and starts filming Kooper. While the koopaling, Morton Koopa Junior, doesn't delve into overall archaeology like the other three, he's also the only one of the group who understands the ancient language of Desert Land, having picked up the ability after being interested specifically in ancient Desertlandian history. Morton doesn't enjoy being involved in his father's conquests, but would rather focus on developing documentaries and news stories for his budding television network, TV Koopa. He knew that, somehow, this trip and its resulting documentary will boost the TVK viewership and make it successful.

"Now, don't do this at home," Kooper warned, staring at the camera as he further explained, "Every excavation project has the chance of being overrun by bandits. This is why we carry these weapons with us."

Morton nods his head before filming more of the desolate desert landscape and acting as a narrating voice.

"And so, deep in this desert the archaeologists go, hoping for answers for questions they might not even have right now. So much history lies in the rolling sand dunes; they know that much," Morton voiced before Goombella starts screaming at the others.

"This is it! The gazes of the Four Directional Stonekoopa all line up right here! Let's set up camp and dig!"

The four unload a basic tent from the wagon and pitch it, followed by a giant awning placed above the suspected site of the temple, according to the Stonekoooa. They then unload their basic archaeological tools: spades, specimen brushes and a trowel, among others.

They all dig beneath the awning, enjoying the cool shade the tarp provides. Only loose sand fills the site, with the every-now-and-then excitement that comes when one archaeologist finds a stray desert beetle.

Day turns to night, and the characters decide to throw in the towel for the first night. During this time, Morton films the leisurely activities the other three perform, such as telling ancient ghost stories and double-checking to make sure the location's right. They also dine on rice and beef jerky (as they cannot have fresh meat in the desert, other than perhaps wild animals) during their meal breaks.

Day 1 turns into Day 2, then Day 3 then Day 4. Each of the four dug for hours on end, but none of them found anything ancient or remotely interesting. By the time Day 5 passed, a large hole beneath the awning contrasts with the flat surface just outside the awning's boundaries. Piles of sand excavated from the site now blend in with the several other dunes. The group's unsure of whether this site even contains a temple, but they're also determined that the area's correct. That night, they promised each other that they will only dig for one more day before giving up. After all, they already used up a third of their stock of water; they cannot afford to stay much longer than another week.

During Day 6, a day first started with pessimism over the mission as a whole, their hard work pays off. During one of his digging shifts, Morton pierces a solid substance. Hoping for the best, he digs around the solid surface and found the surrounding area to be diggable.

"Guys! I found something!" Morton gasped, unearthing part of a brick wall. Hearing the call, the other three dash towards the excavation site, amazed at how well-preserved the brick is.

"Oh wow! We found the Temple of Tenebris! This is seriously an archaeologist's life-long dream!" Goombella jumps up and down, squealing.

"Yeah!" Kooper joined in on the excitement, also eager to excavate more of the site.

"Wow. These bricks are something else," Kolorado mused as he grabs a trowel and a specimen brush, "This isn't material used during the beginning of the Twelfth Age or even the Eleventh Age. We're dealing with something truly ancient here. This could very well be the Temple of Tenebris. I'll need to investigate these bricks."

"When was it built?" Morton questioned as he grabs his camera to film Kolorado.

"The Temple of Tenebris was rumoured to have been desecrated around the beginning of the Dark Ages. The Eleventh Age is only one leg of the Dark Ages; the other being the Tenth Age, which started around 145 thousand years ago. So, this temple right here? It must've been built during the preceding Ninth Age. That's how old it is."

"Neat," Morton nods as he films the brick wall, "Let's continue!"

Despite their excitement and hope, as the excavation continued, only remnants of the brick wall remain. No treasure of any sort appears in the Temple, contrary to lore. Still determined, Kooper and Kolorado continue digging, hoping the temple's deeper than anticipated, while Goombella and Morton discuss the current events to contribute for the documentary.

"I hope we find something…" Goombella voiced to the camera, "Ancient lore states that the Temple of Tenebris contains some of the most important treasure the world will ever know."

Morton considers the information before offering an idea, "Maybe it was stolen by bandits? Ancient armies?"

"This land doesn't look to have been disturbed for thousands of years, so no, I don't think so," Goombella disagreed, "But maybe this treasure… Is different. Maybe it's not gold, but instead, maybe it's knowledge of some sort that we don't know. After all, the Ninth Age was all rad; we can seriously learn from them."

"True," Morton stated before asking another question, the camera still rolling, "To inform those who are curious: what was the Temple of Tenebris, exactly?"

Goombella takes off her archaeologists' cap and pushes her blonde hair back with one of her near-invisible hands, "The Temple of Tenebris, as indicated in its name, was for an ancient figure, Tenebris. Tenebris, we theorize, was a Koopan magician of some kind. Lore states that he oversaw the Cosmos; from the lining up of planets to the monitoring of stars, that was Tenebris' field. Because astronomy was so important to ancient culture, Tenebris was highly regarded as a demigod; thus, the temple was built for him, and he ruled a prosperous ancient city. If we find this temple and any artifacts within it, we can solidify this theory. I'm excited about this, honestly! It's the big break, finally!"

"That's cool," Morton commented, planning not to add his less formal comment into the future documentary. Being a fan of Desertlandian history, Morton's also excited to perhaps witness the solidifying of Desertlandian tales and folk stories. As he ponders more questions to inquire Goombella with, jubilant calls erupt from Kolorado and Kooper.

"Guys! Come here! We found something!"

Heeding Kooper's cry, Morton and Goombella rush towards the excavation site and gasp at the newfound object: a chest, appearing to be made of granite, rests in conjunction with one of the temple's walls. Due to the erosive nature of the desert sand, scratches cover the granite, but the sturdy chest shows no damage. Considering the chest laid undisturbed for millennia, the chest's mint condition impresses the characters.

"This could be the treasure!" Goombella screamed before dashing onto the site and thrusting the chest open. The chest contains no gold nor precious metal of any kind, but rather a bundle of tatty ancient scrolls and a white-rodded wand with a black onyx tip. Being an archaeologist and loving new information, Goombella beams at the discovery as she unrolls the scroll bundle, revealing four ancient manuscripts. One manuscript contains only strange, rune-like scribblings, while the other three have eight stars drawn on them.

Unable to understand the language nor the symbolism, Kolorado and Kooper give the manuscripts a puzzled expression. Morton, meanwhile, finds fascination with one of the star-drawn manuscripts and the wand. Wanting to study the findings more, he takes both and walks towards the wagon.

"Get the other scrolls and meet me at the wagon. We'll investigate these."

The three others follow Morton's lead, each holding onto a mysterious manuscript. As they arrive at the wagon, they each lay their manuscript flat on the wagon's back, preparing them for Morton to transcribe and translate them.

"This civilization used magic like ours did. We can confirm that part of your theory, Goombella," Morton commented, holding up the wand, "This wand looks just like ours do, and I'm sure it has the same power, at the very least. But this could also be THE Wand of Tenebris also. I need to investigate this wand if you three don't mind; as a Koopa, it's easier for me to do so. It's crazy how Koopan traditions kept for this long."

Pocketing the wand, Morton moves on to the manuscript he picked up. He studies the ancient text written just above the eight stars and nods at the writing.

"This one says, 'The Elder Gods'," Morton translated before giving the others a puzzled look, "Wait. The same Elder Gods that every other ancient civilization obsessed over?"

"I think so," Kolorado nodded, "The ancient civilizations believed there were seven Elder Gods, and the Star Spirits are simply their mouthpieces. I don't know why eight are drawn considering there are seven."

Morton attempts to soothe out the crinkles in the manuscript, hoping to find more hints about what this thing portrays. However, he notices the paper crinkles in eight stubborn areas, each area housing a star. These weren't ordinary bulges; he knows from other related documents he found within Desert Land.

"There's more to this document than the drawing," Morton remarked, "I think you know this already, but many manuscripts in Desert Land have these bulges. Desert Land used to be a kingdom based on magic. I think these bulges might not be simple crinkles, but rather indicators of a portal! They can be activated either by a koopa's claws or by magic."

Goombella and Kolorado exchange fascinated looks. Knowing those two and their frequent journeys to Desert Land, they no doubt have documents also containing a form of portal.

"What better way to preserve history than have us witness it ourselves?" Kooper questioned, agreeing with Morton, "That's awesome!"

Morton grabs the attained wand from his shell and stares at it. The wand's onyx tip shows reactionary signs as the koopaling hovers it closer to the manuscript. Yep, definitely magic; this must be a portal. Morton then touches the manuscript with the wand's tip, resulting in a slew of blue, magic-like particles of light shooting from the manuscript.

"W-what happened?" Kooper stuttered, at a loss for describing the occurring mystical process.

"I... I don't know," Goombella shrugged, "It could be... Like, a magical document, like how the Magical Map was."

"It appears that way- ACK!" Kolorado attempted to clarify before the blue light then intensifies, expands and engulfs the quartet. About half a minute later, the light then dies down, but the four are now gone; only Morton's still-rolling camera remains.

* * *

G'day, and welcome to my old idea, yet new series, Return of the Four Sages!

I must admit, I have numerous inspirations for this story, both when I had this idea as a sequel to Shards of Love (back in the mid-2000's) and as I actually type it up now (and no, this is NOT a sequel of Shards of Love; it's not even based in the same canon universe I use). Here are a list of such inspirations:

Amongst the biggest ones were my personal political studies of Communism, Capitalism, Socialism, Anarchism, Communalism and Distributism, and the worst case scenarios of all these ideologies. I do not endorse any specific socioeconomic belief and I won't urge such beliefs in this story, but I feel like these ideas may be implemented into an isolated/resettled society to try to form a utopia found within a stereotypical 22nd-century society.

Other post-apocalyptic dystopias, such as _1984_ , _Brave New World_ , _The Hunger Games_ , _Fahrenheit 451_ and _Divergent_ , offer me different viewpoints of when these perfect societies go downhill. You'll see MANY references to these stories in here, albeit in a unique, Mario-esque way.

Unlike many of these stories, I also wanted to include the PROGRESSION from a seemingly-normal setting to one where the dystopian matter begins to kick in, and I wanted to make it sound more logical and clean (although possibly not realistic in Earth terms). I couldn't have done this without the likes of apocalypse-themed websites such as PA Forum, Two Journeys, Cosy Catastrophe, multiple stories on Ashtales and other apocalypse conspiracy websites I found concerning weather, solar flares, earth changes, Sun novas, and pole switches, among others.

Another major part of the series, societal resettlements, worldbuilding (especially ones setting colony on Mars), and the advancements of such societies, was inspired by several novels and short stories, such as Greg Bear's _The Forge of God,_ J.T. McIntosh's _One in Three Hundred,_ and many of Ray Bradbury's _The Martian Chronicles_ short stories, among several others.

Other important inspirations in this series include references to Sages and lore. Much of the concept of the Sages come from Avatar: the Last Airbender (especially towards the end of Book 1 and pretty much all of Book 2), Mario and Luigi: Seven Sages (this game is THE reason why I reference Sages rather than anything else, and this provides the basis of Sage actions in Book 2. M&L:SS is a fanmade RPG made in 2009; it's great considering it's unofficial), Paper Mario (especially N64, GCN and Wii versions), other M&L games such as Bowser's Inside Story, and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Many, many other inspirations exist, especially when I'm too passive to look for them, but when they pop up, I'll try to give credit.

Anyway, thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated.


	2. Incrimination

NOTES: Well, I finally updated! During November, I was participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge to write 50,000 words in November. Good news is I was successful, albeit in four different stories! Of course, I'm obviously not posting all 50,000 words right now, due to editing and the like, but the wait for the next few chapters of all my stories, including this one, won't be as long a wait. I can definitely squeeze in another chapter before the end of the year, perhaps even two.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter II**

 **5 years later...**

Residents in the Mushroom Kingdom still recall the days of sleeping with fire flowers under their pillows in fear of another take-over-the-Kingdom scheme by Bowser. The terror of witnessing an utter sight of destruction left behind by the Koopa King's fury-driven destruction still sweep throughout the land. The blood-curdling screams of their beloved princess pierce the air of the serene land, even throughout this period of peace agreed on by Bowser, Peach and the Mario Brothers three years ago.

Oh, how those days were simple and predictable. Every destructive act in the Mushroom Kingdom, save for the takeovers of Smithy, Cackletta and Fawful, the residents blamed Bowser in some degree, hands down. Now, the safety of their princess may be compromised by a string of unknown, mysterious kidnappings—even if the kidnappings took place as far away as Sarasaland.

Despite its vast distance east from the Kingdom, Sarasaland and its four kingdoms, ruled by Peach's cousin Daisy, formed and maintained excellent relations with the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, sightings of Princess Daisy and Princess Peach together flood the media, strengthening the already strong bond the two kingdoms have. Strong enough that, when Tatanga kidnapped Daisy and took over Sarasaland, Mario retaliated by defeating the short, purple alien and once again liberating the exhausted kingdom (hence Sarasaland was the first time he saved a nation other than the Mushroom Kingdom) and the media considered this the introductory period of becoming a worldwide hero.

As Sarasaland doesn't get involved in international affairs unlike the Mushroom Kingdom, nothing major occurred in Daisy's kingdom since that fateful day, until these strings of kidnappings—codenamed 'Royal Flush'. Daisy just happened to disappear, as well as many high-ranking officials of the Sarasalandian military.

Nothing more than a set of unproven hypotheses on how Daisy and her officials vanished without a trace make up the Royal Flush mystery. This 'disappearance' started when Daisy missed a meeting with the Birabuto Kingdom about two weeks prior. Though last seen in Birabuto the day before the scheduled meeting, the desert princess seemed to be snatched up by the desert's dry and open air, disappearing without a trace.

While every intelligence agency in the Mushroom World investigate the lone case of Daisy's disappearance, one koopaling believes it's part of a rather fishy trend; a trend which also affect both his father and his eldest brother for weeks at a time.

* * *

A dark Saturday morning greets the residents of the Kastle Koopa Complex, the dreary air blending in with the grim landscape of central Dark Land. Due to the Koopalings' coming-of-age from teenagers to adults, Bowser assigned each one to be a part-time ambassador to their chosen land. To lure the koopalings into staying, Bowser's architects, commanded by Ludwig and Iggy, built seven separate tower add-ons, each about three stories high, surrounding the castle and attached to it. Of course, despite the project starting just weeks after the peace treaty, the construction workers only finished the job around a week ago, resulting in many of the koopalings not being fully moved in yet.

On the second floor of the northwest tower, suspense music leaks out of the tucked-away bedroom, but the tunes get stifled as quick as it starts. Not long after, Larry arises from his queen-sized bed and performs his stretching routine.

While every other koopaling ditched their criminal ways (despite their ravaging greed still appearing untamed), almost nothing changed of Larry since the three-year-old peace treaty took effect. He still snoops around in areas he shouldn't, and he hacks everything from private entities to governmental databases. What may change is he doesn't do them out of ill-intent, but rather due to his belief that nobody should be left out of the light on major issues.

And, of course, Larry sees these strings of kidnappings as a major issue hidden by the Elite. No ruler gets kidnapped in the plain-of-day, especially not the ruler of the second-largest kingdom on the planet, but no one in the Media nor any government bureaucracy can clutch such a simple fact.

He needs to find the truth, and he will find it out with the help of his team of hackers. He'll even break into any system and compromise his position as Ambassador to Grass Land just to be informed.

Just feet from his bed rests a large desktop computer system, coupled with three monitors—one of the few appliances Larry bothered to unpack after the move-in. Pushing the on button on the desktop's tower, the computer wakes up from its sleep; almost on cue, a group voice chat request pops up. Smirking, Larry answers the call.

"Any new information?" Larry questioned, not bothering to greet the six faces that appear on the top-right monitor.

"There's been plenty of data transfers from your location, Alpha, especially uploading. I emailed the files to you. Have you been doing anything?"

"Thank you, I'll check them out soon. And no. I've been too busy moving my stuff into my new tower for the past week. I didn't have much access to my computer or any hacking tools," Larry replied, "Which only proves my stance. Point is, I don't trust my dad but the rest of my siblings seem to, like blind sheep. Especially Ludwig and Morton. In fact, Morton's becoming part of the problem with that TV network of his, blasting all these distractions or even pro-government news. He's in some conspiracy with them, most likely."

"Alpha, why don't you trust your own father? Any deeper reason?" one of the people in the video call fired question after question, "And are you letting any of your siblings in on our plans?"

"No no no, none of my siblings will be in on any of this, at least not yet. If I'm adding a sibling, then it's either Iggy, Lemmy or POSSIBLY Roy; as acting king of Dark Land, he's just as confused as I am," Larry clarified, "I don't want my secret plans out there, and I ESPECIALLY don't want Bowser to know, as he's part of the government elite. Anyway, Bowser's sneaky, Beta. Of course he's not as sneaky as me, but he still has a knack to hide stuff. I refuse to be snuck up on, and I know he's planning something. No one outsmarts Larry Koopa."

"Yes, yes. Anyway, you didn't upload any files, so your dad probably has an intranet connection that you want to break into," Beta finished.

"Well, technically Kamek's, but Bowser also uses that connection. I'm honestly not sure how much of a role Kamek plays in all this. However, to access the intranet, I need to get through his actual Internet connection, and I can't get into his connection..." Larry moaned.

"Can't get into it?"

Before Larry can respond, Beta beats him to it.

"Theta, Kamek's WiFi connection probably has the new security protocol, one that makes even WPA2 look like a pathetic plastic padlock. It comes with all the security features offered with WPA2, but it doesn't allow brute-force hacking."

"So I can't get in," Larry muttered, continuing with Beta's explanation, "The only way I can get signals from the network is if I poison the ARP. It should work because Kamek still didn't enable port security."

"What?" Theta questioned.

"So I will get in through his connection, it'll just be much harder than usual. Being able to actually access his computer will be tougher since I need to trick him into installing a Remote Accessing Tool, and that would get me noticed easier."

"Yeah, just be passive with that Internet connection," Theta suggested.

"I agree," Beta nodded, "I always hated ARP spoofing. The victims always catch me."

"Usually happens when the user's aware of their MAC address. Kamek can barely remember his password to log on..." Larry informed his group. He then lets out a sigh before he speaks once again, "Kamek's Intranet's down for some reason. I'll have to find out info about Bowser's plans when it's back up. Thanks for the files!"

Before the rest of the group can say their parting messages to Larry, the call shuts down.

Larry stares at the dozen email attachments purportedly sourced from Kamek's intranet connection. He clicks the first one, which brings up a photo of a large complex with nine towers: eight of them forming an octagonal perimeter while the ninth, larger tower occupies the middle. Larry first thought the picture was a construction plan of the new Kastle Koopa Complex, but the picture appears real, the towers are much more massive than three stories, and it appears to be in a desert-like environment with plenty of sunlight. This environment, in no way, matches Dark Land.

Larry clicks on the second attachment: a scanned copy of an old papyrus scroll. Perplexed, the youngest koopaling attempts to decipher the words, but they appear to be an ancient language he never encountered.

Uninterested in the scroll, Larry opens the third: a simple Koopasoft Word document containing what appears to be a translated version of the scroll. Larry's interest in the find turns into sudden fear: this is no normal prophesy, but one laying out the start of apocalypse-like events due to "the waking Elder Gods destroying Plit". In the document, a set of instructions for visiting three periods of time also appears.

In order to better document his finds, Larry prints the third attachment before opening the fourth, fifth and sixth: three ancient scrolls, two of them portraying eight stars on them while the third has eight mysterious figures outlined. Equating these to also be important materials, Larry prints each of the three.

He also knows that he'll need help from someone else who's fluent, or at least proficient, in ancient Desertlandian writing. Unfortunately, the only two he knows to understand such languages are also two of his siblings, and he didn't want his siblings involved unless necessary. But this qualifies, he reasoned.

"Wow. Morton's probably involved in all this, as he's leaving for "business" soon, so the only person I know who can figure out this sort of ancient writing, that I can trust, is Roy. He can translate these manuscripts for me, since that Word document only did for the general prophesy!"

Larry then clicks the forward button and starts typing the R and the O, then hits the tab key. He types in a brief "Please help me with translating these documents" line of text in the email before pressing Send.

"Forwarding email to: Roy Koopa."

"Good," Larry smirks, although he's unsure of whether his action was the smartest. After all, Roy's considered the ruler of Dark Land while Bowser and Ludwig are out; either he's part of it and will jail Larry for such actions, or he'll appreciate his younger brother's information. Larry automatically assumes the latter option; Roy doesn't give off a fishy vibe unlike Bowser and Ludwig. Plus, due to their similar interests concerning sports and stealth, Larry's bond with Roy's closer than with the bonds with most of his siblings.

As the email attempts to send, a sudden brownout occurs, causing Larry's computer to shut down. Of course, the sole time Larry has a researchable lead on a conspiracy debunking...

"Dammit!"

Larry attempts to reboot his computer to no avail: the power surge most likely fried the circuits. He, for once, was stumped on what to do. Sure, he can always buy or build another computer, but he'd also lose all the files he received from hacking ever since his last full backup almost two months ago. Financial records, the Mushroom Kingdom's trade secrets and evidence of otherwise-unproven conspiracies such as Daisy's "kidnapping", among other sensitive documents, now held hostage by an unfamiliar force. Ditto with repairing it; he may lose all the invaluable information.

As Larry leaves his failed computer in frustration, his cellphone rings. He checks the caller ID: Ludwig. Larry growls; perhaps Ludwig's behind the destruction of his computer. He might as well answer the call; Ludwig's plan may slip through the cracks, after all.

"Long time no speak," Larry voiced, finding success in hiding anger from his voice.

"It has been, brother," Ludwig replied, "But Father's requesting your presence immediately."

Without bothering to say goodbye, Ludwig hangs up. Ludwig's distancing himself from his former best brother – that confirms his involvement in sinister behavior – and perhaps such a meeting will, at least, unleash the facts he's desiring.

* * *

Three doomships cruise over Water Land's capital of Seashell City before landing at a near-deserted restaurant without signs or advertisements of any kind. Despite being a questionable, run-down location, many of the Mushroom Kingdom's rich dine here due to the luxurious interior, the top-rated fresh food and the total ban on paparazzi within a hundred feet of the building. Not many outside the affluent circle know of the place, also making the restaurant more attractive.

Roy, Morton and Iggy, no exceptions to the restaurant's reputation, park their doomships just behind the building, out of view from one of the city's side streets. Getting out of the doomships, the trio enter the restaurant, and each grabs a menu. Despite the barren parking lot, several high-profile figures, such as Toad, Toadette, Yoshi and Birdo, litter the restaurant. Toadette and Yoshi both look up from their tables and wave at the group, in which Morton waves back. Of course, even during the conflict between the Mushroom Kingdom and Dark Land, the patrons always showed civility towards others, whether enemy or ally.

Finding a suitable booth table in a more isolated corner of the restaurant, the trio sit down before continuing the conversation they were having.

"TVK's networks have been a big hit the past week, due to the Daisy disappearance," Morton boasted, "Ever since we've been covering it, we've been getting consistent 2 to 3 million views throughout the day, and even up to 7 million during primetime, and that's just the Mushroom Kingdom Today's news section of TVK. The other ten news sections are doing great also!"

Since the pressure to kidnap Peach no longer burden him, Morton now focuses fulltime on his TV network: Television Koopa. Originally starting out as an independent news organization approximately five years ago, TVK's now a multimillion-coin, government-endorsed enterprise consisting of about two-dozen mainstream sub-channels that specialize in a swath of topics, from the news (in which eleven of those sub-channels do on a full-time basis), to house hunting, to sitcoms, thrillers and dramas. Ever since becoming CEO of the company, every month Morton's been leaving Dark Land for about a week and a half due to apparent "corporate reasons".

"That's great, bro," Roy nodded his head, "I'm surprised the Government let you air the news reports."

"Eh, you know how government works. They want some things aired; others censored. Sarasaland and the Mushroom Kingdom want to look like they're doing something about Daisy, just to build trust in their people rather than have the people revolt."

"Iunno, man… TVK's been wrapped up with Mushroom Government influence lately."

"No. We receive zero funding from the Gov," Morton disproved Roy's claim, "We even do investigative journalism into government corruption; how's that supporting the Gov?"

"… Good point."

As the conversation does down, a smiling toad waitress approaches the koopalings, pen in hand.

"Good afternoon, Koopalings! My name is Angela Toad, and I'll be taking care of you! What can I get for you, sir?" she questioned as she eyes Roy.

"Uhh… I'll take a Sky Land Imperial Stout, and also one of your fire-roasted Goomburgers, hold the sauce."

"Make that two of each!" Morton called out.

"I'll just take a lemonade, and an order of your chips and queso," Iggy ordered.

"Okay, I'll bring those right out!" the waitress curtsied before leaving the table, order in hand.

As she leaves the table, Roy and Morton both stare at Iggy as if he's grown an extra head.

"You never not order food here!" Morton gasped, "Still hungover from that party last night?"

"In my defense… Try to force gulp a bottle of spiced gin in under 30 seconds just because you're too damn competitive to say no," Iggy rebutted, "I'm tired of having the sledge brothers constantly down the bottle the quickest then brag forever about it, so I needed to do it. Good news was I won! Hahaha! But I've been queasy all today and I was vomiting buckets last night."

"All worth it, bro," Roy added, "So… I heard you quit your other job with E. Gadd?"

Iggy nods, "E. Gadd has too many top secret projects he's working on, so we hardly invent together. So, I decided just to throw in the towel and instead focus more on our relations with Giant Land. When I'm off duty, Lemmy also offered me a job to work at his new solar panel factory."

"Good plan, man, but politics is messy. I know that," Roy sighed, "Half the time I run Dark Land 'cus Pops is gone somewhere, Ludwig's dead in some hole somewhere I swear, and Lemmy is… Well, Lemmy. He's too wrapped up in running businesses and investing to be a King without some conflict of interest controversy. Plus, even that least selfish brother of ours would rather be a billionaire than a king."

"That's tough."

"Yeah man," Roy sighed as he rubs his forehead, "Much of da past week I had to play PA for da kingdom due to dis Daisy crap, because stupid media outlets like yours have to recycle da damn story, Morton."

"Hey! Not cool."

"Now you feel my pain. Just stop covering it; easy enough as that."

"One word: Ratings," Morton pointed out, "People don't care for Peach's kidnappings because she can't see two straight Wednesdays without being kidnapped. Daisy, meanwhile… That never happens!"

"I don't care what your million idiots want to see. If this gets in the way of national security, I'll have to take action," Roy threatened before softening his tone, "Look. News is cool and all, but can you… Maybe find other stories? In a kingdom of over 20 million, it's not hard. This is coming from the current ruler of Dark Land."

Before Morton's able to retort on the concept of ratings, the waitress returns with the drinks and the food orders.

"Two fire-roasted Goomburgers," the waitress called, setting down a plate containing a large burger and a pile of crispy fries in front of Roy. She then puts down an identical plate in front of Morton, followed by a basket of tortilla chips for Iggy and the three drinks they ordered, "One chips with queso, two stouts and the lemonade. And there's that! Everything looking good? Did I forget anything?"

"Everything's great, including you," Roy winked at the waitress, causing her to blush, "Thanks."

Still blushing and smiling, the waitress walks away from the trio, causing Morton and Iggy to gape at Roy.

"Roy's hitting on a girl actually worked!" Iggy gasped, "Usually they smack you with their purse."

"Yeah man," Roy replied shortly after chewing and swallowing much of his burger, "Them purses, I swear the only thing in the bathroom missin' from them are the toilets."

While Iggy giggles at Roy's unthought-of joke, Morton's work cellphone begins ringing. Annoyed at the interruption, the koopaling answers.

"Morton Koopa Junior."

"Good afternoon, dear brother," the voice responds, "Are you in a private area?"

"Uhh, no. I'm at Fiery Goomba."

"In Seashell City?" the voice questioned before skipping over his query, "Get in a private area, now. I have important news."

"Okay," Morton replied before covering the phone's receiver and whispering to the other two, "I'll be back in a bit."

Roy and Iggy both give Morton a thumbs-up before Morton paces towards the restaurant's bathrooms, hoping no one else thinks of occupying the room. As he enters the single-stall bathroom and locks the door, the koopaling replies, "Go on."

"It's about Lawrence. He was caught with compromising information," the concern-saturated voice informed.

"I know. I wanted Larry to get involved in our plan. We need more technical support up there, anyway. I purposely gave those files to Larry through a group of my Emissary spies; our intranet's too encrypted for even Larry to access from the outside, and we had to pretend that the connection wasn't," Morton informed.

"I'm worried he won't be accepted by Father."

"Who cares what Dad thinks?" Morton replied, "He's just one member of Council, and we both make up two. Plus the rest of the Council members promise an unbiased view in whether to accept him or not. Honestly, Larry will be extremely useful to our cause, and I don't see him having a problem with receiving majority support from Council."

"Was Lawrence analyzed before?"

"I've done an informal one on him, and he seems fit to know more info."

"Okay, then I'll sponsor him for membership. Father is, in fact, requesting his presence even as we speak. A thousand thank yous, Morton."

"Any other info I need to know?"

A little pause occurred on the other side before the voice speaks up, "To emphasize on my previous point, one of your Emissary spies sent Lawrence twelve attachments, all of them detailing our base, the manuscripts, the translations and our post-apocalyptic plans."

Morton nods; he had spies, disguised as fellow hackers, befriend Larry and stealthily drag him into the plan. Larry's skepticism to conspiracies prevents his elder brother from directly inquiring of Larry's desire to join their cause, resulting in this route needing to be taken.

"Lawrence also forwarded them to Roy."

"… Dammit," Morton facepalms, "Roy wasn't supposed to know yet. I want him in, just like I want the rest of our siblings, but I wanted to get Iggy first. But… This could be good. Roy's dangerously close to finding out what TVK actually is, and we can't allow that."

"So, we have no choice…"

"But to either force him into membership, or… Well, lifelong incarceration or even execution. I need to enforce my duties, but Roy's also my brother, and I'm scared that he won't pass my basic test," Morton sighed, "And I just don't want to overrun the base with initiates either."

"Understandable, dear brother, but remember, it's your duty to bring in whoever you think is best. If Roy and Iggy are, then bring them up. Don't rely on Father for advice; he doesn't rule you. But please meet at Father's castle. We have important business to take care of with him, although you'll miss our conversation with Lawrence."

Morton sighs, "Of course. On my way. Thanks for the updates, Ludwig."

Morton hangs up before exiting the bathroom, thankful that no other patron entered during his conversation. He makes his way towards the booth he sat at, ready to be placed in the hot seat by Roy and Iggy about Ludwig's current condition, but halts when he spots the cleaned booth, left used just minutes ago.

Roy and Iggy both left; not even a bite of the food remain.


	3. Discovery

After a quick meal break, Kylie Koopa pulls into the TVK headquarters parking lot in Caldera before looking at her car's vanity mirror. She's a mess; a nervous wreck. The annual Koopitzer Awards' announcements are today, and she hopes she receives recognition for her covering Daisy's disappearance. Her world won't end if she doesn't receive it, but winning this award's been her life-long dream, and the prize will further her journalism career both at TVK and elsewhere.

"I'm a mess," Kylie sighs as she grabs a brush from her passenger seat's compartment storage and brushes her blonde hair leaking from the cap. She puts the brush away, applies her signature mascara and covers her baggy eyes with concealer.

Completing her makeup job, she grabs her purse and locks her car before walking towards the TVK Broadcasting Station. Several men from the Broadcasters' Academy, blocked from entering by the security guard, film the interior; either her or one of her coworkers may be receiving one of the Koopitzers, which makes her more anxious.

She looks at the clock. 4:51pm. She rushes towards the news desk and sits at the table with time to spare before the 5 o'clock newscast. The koopa pulls her notes from the purse and shuffles through them; they're all in order in the emergency scenario that the teleprompter fails. She stares at her co-host's empty chair; the network still didn't find a new replacement for her co-anchor and good friend, Flint Cragley.

Kylie stares at the empty seat in despair; Flint's one of the several dozen journalists to have gone missing in Dark Land ever since Bowser unofficially vindicated the throne. The disgusting trend started throughout Ludwig von Koopa's rule, shortly after the Daisy disappearance saga's beginning. The situation only escalated during the few weeks Roy Koopa took Dark Land's helm, and it was during Roy's current rule that TVK tightened the topics it could broadcast. The sickly coincidence combined with Morton's isolation of everyone rubs Kylie the wrong way; are the Royals kidnapping, jailing or even killing journalists to hide corruption? She produced a series of interviews and investigations earlier in the year concerning the events, and although the information doesn't add up, doubt still wells up within her.

4:55pm. She practices her televised smile as she listens to the commotion in her earpiece. According to her producer, her boss, Jolene, is out of town once again, yet appears eager to talk to her. Kylie shivers; it's almost never a good sign to receive a summons from Jolene during her times out.

5pm comes, and Kylie forces herself to wash away her worries. As the camera starts rolling, she reads the teleprompter and redirects the focus to each news reporter in the field. She reports a few minor headlines before turning the rest of the newscast to the a Koopa meteorologist and a goomba sports reporter.

Before she knows it, the newscast finishes, and the cameras stop rolling. As she fears, the newsroom director requests Kylie to call Jolene. She takes a deep breath before approaching the newsroom's phone and dials Jolene's extension.

"TVK, this is Jolene."

"Umm... Hi Jolene," Kylie stuttered.

"Do you know what you did in February, Kylie?"

"I... Reported news? It was also when I aired my investigations into the Royal Family and their government."

"Exactly. This is in reference to your anti-corruption probe into Dark Land, shortly after Ludwig von Koopa went missing," Jolene informed.

"What about it?"

"I'm not just okay with it," Jolene stated before a happier tone fills her tone, "I'm absolutely proud of it, and I'm proud of you! The Broadcasters' Academy told me that the probe won the Koopitzer in Investigative Reporting!"

An overwhelming relief washes over Kylie as she cusps her hand over her mouth. She feels tears, this time of vindication, flowing from her eyes as she looks around the room. Several cameramen from the Broadcasters' Academy filmed her reaction while her co-workers clapped for her. She knows she'll regret seeing herself cry on television, but she's too happy to care at this moment.

"So, congratulations, Kylie! You're officially the first employee of TVK to win the Koopitzer!"

"T-thank you! So, so much!" Kylie cried, "It's an honor to report and expose corruption!"

"How about we take a trip, paid for by us at TVK?" Jolene questioned, "We may have a lead on the disappearing journalists."

"I-I'd love that, Jolene!" Kylie confirmed, "Are the cameramen coming?"

"No," Jolene shook her head, "Just you. Bring your notes if you want. I'll send out a black limousine to TVK after your 6:00 newscast ends."

"Roger."

Kylie hangs up the phone and looks at the news studio's clock. 5:36; considering she already organized her notes, she has enough of a break during TVK's international news broadcast to ponder about Jolene's message. Does her boss know something? Is this just a lead she found? Did she bust the case? She admits, Jolene sends a fishy vibe, especially her strange silence as to Morton's whereabouts, but Kylie can't see her being evil or despotic.

The thoughts and situations continue flowing in her mind as she watches the minute hand approach the 11. She snaps out of her thoughts and leaves the break room at 5:55 and relocates herself to the anchor's desk.

Six o'clock approaches, and she starts the newscast off with the same stories as the five o'clock broadcast, other than a co-worker reporter's on-air announcement of her Koopitzer. After humbled thanks, she sends the broadcast to the weatherman before saying her goodbyes and leaving the table.

"Congrats again, Kylie!" her producer complimented, "Well-deserved!"

"Thank you!" she smiled, "But Jolene's summoning me."

"What? To where?"

"She may have a lead on a story involving the disappearing journalists."

"Nice!" the producer smiled, "That'll be a great topic! This could be your long-awaited Big Scoop!"

"I sure hope so."

Kylie grabs her purse and exits the TVK studio. By this time, the Academy photographers left; none even wanted to interview her. Kylie sighs over the fact, but she brushes the concern off with her excitement over this new lead.

She approaches the limousine, where one of the international TVK top dogs occupies the wheel. She opens the limousine and finds an assortment of cocktails, magazines and ice buckets. A young, pink-spotted toad sits on the limousine's lush velvet seats, browsing a fashion magazine while twirling the blonde bangs leaking from her cap. The toad looks up from the magazine as Kylie enters the limousine and sits down.

"Hey Kylie," the mushroomer greeted.

"Hi Jolene," Kylie smiled, "For a news trip, this is fancy."

"Well, a rich lifestyle comes with rich information. The information I have available will be the ultimate treasure, in a Pandora's-Box kind of way."

"Huh..." Kylie takes a sip of a premade cocktail; a blueberry bomb, one of her favorites. Despite the tranquil conditions, suspicion begins to rise within the koopa. What does Jolene have planned? She never uses limousines to cover a simple news story.

"Don't fret," Jolene comforted, "I have to stay undercover. You too. We'll be arriving at their base."

"Their base?"

Jolene nods, preferring to remain silent on further details. Kylie shrugs before she stares out the window; from the thicker clouds, she figures they're south of Caldera, although she's unsure the distance south they traveled. She always heard horror stories about Southern Dark Land due to its dense volcanic fog making the area uninhabited; she just hopes a mafia-like base doesn't flourish down there, and she hopes she won't be getting on their bad side.

About twenty minutes pass before the limousine stops and Jolene exits the vehicle. Kylie follows her before scowling at her surroundings. Abandoned buildings litter the scenery; they're too old to be considered attractive, too recent to be archaeological wonders, and too destroyed to be worth saving. How does this area lead to disappearing journalists?

"Follow me," Jolene guided. Kylie obliges and follows her into an unkempt building, which has nothing to offer but a purple pipe.

"Where does this lead to?"

"It leads to their base. Now, get in," Jolene commanded.

"But-"

"Please trust me on this one, Kylie," Jolene begged, "I'll even jump with you into it at the same time."

Kylie sighs. Is this pipe the reason everyone went missing? Was Jolene behind this? But something about that pipe spikes her curiosity; it overtakes her common sense and safety concerns. After all, Kylie's too far into the plan.

"Okay... Let's go, Jolene."

* * *

Other than princess kidnappings, the King of Dark Land's known for self-obsession. Stone Bowser statues litter Dark Land's town squares while gem-themed Bowser replicas adorn the King's most prized citadels. The door to Bowser's throne room provides no exception, as two bronze Bowser statuettes rest on their pedestals by the throne room's entrance.

Peering into the room from behind one of the statues, Larry spots a table packed with fruits; behind the table sat Bowser, Ludwig and…

Daisy?! Isn't she supposed to be kidnapped? At least, according to "sources" for the government?

Losing all sense of awareness and caution, Larry paces into the throne room and continues staring at Daisy in confusion. Seeing her stare back at him with a smirk, Larry eyes Bowser, whose piercing eyes and tough demeanor causes the young koopaling to instead turn towards Ludwig.

Feeling awkward over the three's burning gazes on him, Larry eyes the fruit and observes Bowser grabbing a few grapes from the table before consuming them, his cold gaze never leaving the young koopaling.

That's when he realizes… Their goal is to intimidate him into not continuing with his project. Ever since Larry's been nosy in governmental business, Bowser always intimidated the young koopaling into silence, whether through force or through fright. Of course, Larry won't fall for the scam now.

Giggling at the realization, Larry then mutters, "Of course, of course. It's not working this time, though. I knew you weren't kidnapped, Daisy," his uttered phrase grabs Ludwig's attention, "As I say, you cannot outsmart Larry Koopa, and you cannot run away from truth."

Bowser remains relentless in his glaring, while both Ludwig and Daisy exchange glances amongst each other and with Larry. After what felt like a decade later, Ludwig then addresses his younger brother.

"We know you never believed in her kidnapping, which is why you are here, dear brother. We know you've been exploring uncharted territory; areas in which you have no authority venturing into," Ludwig replied before eying Daisy, "But her majesty of Sarasaland has an issue she wants to address with you."

Figuring they're onto him, Larry shivers as Daisy then smiles at the koopaling.

"Larry! I need help with our phone system. It doesn't have very good connectivity here. Y'know, the system that connects us between Plit and our tucked-away society."

Caught red-handed. They knew Larry's been snooping around, and now it's too late for the young koopaling to turn around. They won't let him turn around; Bowser's menacing stare testifies of such fact.

"Yeah?" Larry attempts to avoid a nervous stutter, "Are the antennae working?"

"Who knows, but we need your help diagnosing the problem," Daisy replied, adding an innocent smile afterwards, "Just meet me at… Well, the area in question."

Before Larry's able to question what 'the area' is, blue, twinkling lights surrounds him and hoist him in the air, and everything goes black.

* * *

A doomship parks in the castle's hangar, rustling the trees outside the large building as the aircraft enters the large structure. Satisfied with his parking job, Roy leaves the doomship and journeys towards his tower, eager to get his daily kingdom-related duties out of the way. Roy's personal guards open the tower's doors and salutes as their prince approaches them, and the burly koopaling returns the gesture.

The koopaling pushes the call button to his elevator; once the elevator arrives, Roy pushes the button to the third floor: the floor containing his personal office space. He knows the monstrosity awaiting him; being the acting Crown Prince due to Ludwig's unreliable location reports, every governmental agency's now under his control. Frankly, having political power's not worth the constant hard work he's responsible for.

But he can't ditch his responsibilities. For now, the kingdom needs him; he just hopes this isn't a new normal. Being the ambassador to Sky Land's enough of an issue for him.

Roy approaches his computer then signs onto it via fingerprint biometric scanning. When the computer finishes booting, he beams when he notices he only has six unread emails. All he desires to do at this moment is to hit the gym then relax, rather than participate in endless email chains from governmental agencies.

Checking for spam, Roy browses over the senders' names: Dark Land Interior, Civilian Koopan Job Corps, two requests for TV interviews (in which Roy immediately deletes), a catalogue email from KoopCo and an email from Larry Koopa.

Wait. Larry?

Curiosity overflowing him, Roy clicks on Larry's email and finds twelve attachments: one containing a picture of a giant complex with nine towers, five dealing with manuscripts, one containing a picture of a desert planet, another showing an image of a portal, and the last four containing a message about building underground evacuation shelters and separate blueprints for such shelters.

Specifically, the second attachment catches his attention. Having taken over Desert Land many times in the past whenever Ludwig overwhelmed Sky Land, Roy's familiar with the ancient scribblings of the Koopahari, as indicated on the second attachment, although he's not quite fluent in it. From his conquests, he also knows that the ancient peoples of Desert Land preserve their history through more than just documents. Instead, they preserve it via magic; they add portals to their information, whether it's to an area the manuscripts depict, or to the manuscripts themselves.

Despite only being proficient in the language, Roy's able to decipher the gist of the message: the Elder Gods will destroy Plit in anticipation for the upcoming Thirteenth Age. Even the third attachment, which contained a supposed "translation" of this document, didn't mention specifics concerning the Elder Gods.

The overall message concerns Roy; historians call the current era the Twelfth Age of Plit, which means potential apocalyptic events may be in sight. As he leans towards the agnostic point of view, Roy knows this Elder God "prophesy" must be nothing more than a conspiracy theory concocted by many of yore, but he decides to print the three manuscripts and investigate for himself. After all, this will affect the kingdom he's tasked to rule for the time being.

Roy notices that each of the three manuscripts have a theme: two contain eight pictures of stars, while the third contains outlines of eight figures. Being able to translate the titles of each manuscript, Roy reads "The Elders" on the first, "The Star Spirits" on the second, and "The Star Children" on the third.

"Hmm…"

Roy studies the first manuscript; even on a printed copy, he notices bulges around the eight "elder" stars. He studies the star spirits' manuscript: bulges also engulf each Star Spirit, with an empty space, perhaps representing a planet, hovering over Muskular and between Skolar and Misstar. Even the Star Childrens' manuscript contain bulges around each Child's figure. Mesmerized, the koopaling lays the first manuscript onto a table near his computer.

"Could this be…"

It must be; after all, it's from Desert Land, and he's learned that those in ancient times always hide extra information in strange "bulges". Holding his breath, Roy puts his left little finger on the first star, ring finger on the second, index finger on the third and his thumb on the fourth. He twists his left hand 90 degrees clockwise, resulting in a slight rustle in the paper. Roy then repeats the process with the four other stars, this time using his right hand. With each digit on a star, he then twists his hand 90 degrees anticlockwise.

As with the turning of the left four stars, the paper rustles once again, but not long after, a bright cyan light emulates from the printed manuscript and wraps around him. Everything around him spins while an unknown force, emulating from the manuscript itself, lifts him into the air before sucking him into the manuscript.

Before he can comprehend the occurrence, he glances around at his new surroundings: farm fields surround him while a lake's breaking waves occur to his right and a large, walled area rests to his left. The Sun's setting over the walled city, creating a golden glow around the mystical civilization. Curiosity overflowing him, he goes towards the wall, where he finds a gate guarded by two craws. As he approaches them, one of the craws sights the koopaling.

"Roy! You're not supposed to be here!" one of the craws said in a hushed voice.

"What? Where am I?" Roy questioned before glaring at the guards, "Wait! The hell are you?"

"You're in the Ninth Age, silly!" the other craw exclaimed before then whispering, "You might wanna leave. Your dad won't be happy if he sees you here. He's grieved enough when he found out Larry found his way in."

"No," Roy voiced, "I'm not leaving, not while Pops, Ludwig, and now Larry are hiding something. I want to find out what the hell's going on. And why am I in the Ninth Age? How'd I get here?"

The two craws exchange looks before one nods its head at the other. Interpreting the moment, the second craw pulls out a mushroom with a ghost imbued into its stem.

"Eat this," the craw stated before handing the mushroom to Roy. Without hesitation, the koopaling gobbles it. Noticing no extraordinary effects, Roy looks down at confusion, only to realize he no longer sees his legs.

"Invisibility shroom? Are these natural?"

"Yes, yes. They're quite common around here. You seem shocked; I reckon they're extinct in the Twelfth Age?" the craw stated.

"Might be," Roy shrugged, "Anyway, thanks. Let me through now, I can handle this."

As the craws move, Roy walks through the gate and gapes at the sight: several elegant, golden brick shopfronts greet him, each advertising sales written in the ancient script. People of all species, both familiar and unrecognizable, stroll the brick streets, seeming to shop around the mall-like structures. Large aqueducts run from the lake and throughout the town, with each building receiving a branch of variable width, depending on the building's water demand. Despite this being the ancient age, hydroelectric-produced electricity via the aqueducts appear commonplace, providing the town's lighting, although no other electronic appliance remains in sight. Still, Roy's never expected the Ninth Age to be as advanced as it was.

Still amused at the sight, the koopaling journeys through one of the crowded alleyways: one leading up to a large, gold-tinted palace. This must be where the ruler of this mysterious land, in this strange time period, lives. He pushes through the crowd – despite being invisible, Roy's unable to pass through any object – and sights the possible commotion: a ruby-plated carriage drawn by two ostros. A strange black-shelled koopa steps out from the carriage, followed by three figures Roy's too familiar with.

"Pops, Ludwig… And Morton?! He's involved in this too?!" Roy gasps as his three family members walk towards the now-open palace doors. Confident of his invisibility, Roy follows the four into the building and enters, just as the guard slams the door behind him. The buff koopaling follows the quartet as they turn to the right to enter a blue-themed room housing a strange shrine. The unidentified figure, who now appears to be a powerful koopa tasked to rule over the city, seats himself on a throne facing opposite the shrine, placing his silver-rodded, black-tipped wand on a desk next to him, while Ludwig and Morton both plop down on one of the couches near the shrine's side.

"Just put it on the shrine," the king instructed to Bowser as the koopa king holds the manuscript containing the seven star spirits, "And it usually works."

Bowser places the manuscript onto the shrine before taking a seat on the unoccupied couch. In a near-instant, a swirling, dark-purple whirlwind, sourced from the manuscript, overtakes the room, yet despite the sudden shafts, everything in the room appears unaffected by the wind. Even Ludwig's hair remains in its same style.

As quick as the winds came, they die down, and before the group hovers the seven Star Spirits.

"The Star Spirits!" the king rises from his throne and bows to the figures, "So nice for you to stop by!"

"It is, Sage Tenebris, but I wish I came during a more cheerful time," Mamar spoke in a booming, yet feminine voice; one where, despite the genuine kindness of the being, still shook Roy to the core, "You, your civilization, and the future are at risk, due to the power of the Elder Gods."

"Yes," Tenebris nods his head, "I'm informed of the prophesies given to us through the last ages, and I'm aware of the warnings the Wand of the Cosmos gave."

"This is not just a regular prophesy," Kalmar continues Mamar's explanation, "The events of the Tenth and Eleventh Ages won't be impacted by the six older Elder Gods. The youngest, most definitely, but those dark ages will come. Nevertheless, you're responsible for making sure the information's preserved for anyone to find during the final years of the Twelfth Age, because what we're talking about is the dawn of the Thirteenth Age."

"I figured. The residents of the Twelfth Age now built their base, but they now need more guidance, and that is why I have these three here. Meet Bowser, Ludwig and Morton."

"Yes," Klevar stated as the three koopas rise and bow, "We're well-familiar with each of them, and not quite in the fantastic way either."

"Err… Nice to meet you… Officially?" Bowser, not used to being around an individual with more authority than him, simply stated.

"Quite… Anyway. The Elder Gods will wake up soon, and once they wake up, this planet, as you know it, will have its anima drained, and it WILL be destroyed. The Elder Gods, just like any other individual, goes through cycles to preserve their anima, or in other words, the life force of every animate thing. Everything we all do, from simply breathing to creating galaxies, is done through the manipulation of anima. But just like every mortal, the Elder Gods need to refresh their anima; that's when they restart their lives, so to speak," Skolar continued.

While Morton and Ludwig nod their heads, Bowser scratches the side of his face, appearing confused.

"But, before the Gods restart their life cycles, they build what they consider a perfect world, depending on what element they favor," Eldstar spoke as he rubs one of his points through his mustache, "And mortals capable of making their own choices doesn't designate a perfect world to them, because choices represent imperfection."

Bowser, Morton, Ludwig and Tenebris exchange looks amongst each other before Ludwig questions, "So… What do we do? We cannot halt or overpower an Elder God, let alone seven."

"There you are wrong, at least partially," Skolar interjected, "The Elder Gods use an artifact called the Celestial Wand to measure and balance the amount of anima on a planet. Once the planet's considered perfect, they leave that artifact on that planet in order to measure and, in a sense, regulate the amount of anima on there. My research states that while the Celestial Wand can measure anima, it can also debilitate and, in lucky cases, even kill off the Elder Gods in their most vulnerable state. That will be their egg form just after they hatch. Any time before that, their shells are impregnable. In other words, at the tail end of the Twelfth Age, opens a chance of destroying them."

Every other star spirit shiver at the suggestion of killing their respective creators, save for one star spirit, who seems rather enthusiastic about the idea.

"Yes! We should kill them! Imagine what powers I'd have as an Elder God!" Muskular cheered before earning a smack from Misstar.

"Muskular! You're cheering on the slaughter of our poor, defenseless mother?!" Misstar scolded her brother, "You should be ashamed of yourself! She created us!"

"Newsflash, Missy! Our 'loving' Mother wants to destroy us!" Muskular fought back, "I'm standing by smashing them, and there's that!"

The five other Star Spirits observe the confrontation between the two siblings before Eldstar speaks up.

"I hate to say this, especially because I will betray the Elder God who entrusted me with her power, but Muskular's right. In my view, there's nothing more perfect than mortals having the ability to choose their own actions. Perfection is balance. The Elder Gods won't ever agree with me, because they never experienced choice. They only know instinct. The Elder Gods are not perfect, but rather, they're only innocent. Us Star Spirits, however, do understand, and we want the best for the mortals here."

"I'm in agreement, Eldstar, but how do we know this will work?" Ludwig inquired, intrigued by the plan yet also skeptical.

"This has been done before. The second youngest Elder God used the same tactic on the youngest Elder God's egg. In turn, the youngest Elder God is now considered a still-born Elder God with limited power," Skolar explained, "And it was the effect of the wand itself that caused this, not the Elder God. Elder Gods cannot harm each other with their own power. I don't know what the Celestial Wand is from, but its power source is much stronger than the Elder Gods. It may be directly from anima itself."

"Terrific. We will tell Council about this impeccable plan. Any clue on where the Celestial Wand rests?" Ludwig questioned, "We can get a crew searching for that artefact."

"What Skolar forgot to mention is the Celestial Wand is no more. It split into four separate pieces to prevent one person from ruling everything," Tenebris added, replied in a dejected, yet calm voice, "The pieces became wands: the Wand of the Elements, the Wand of the Cosmos, the Wand of Light, and the Wand of the Spirit. Each are controlled by a Sage. I know you're all hunting down the Wand of the Elements, but I'm not aware of whether you know how it came to be or not."

Morton, Ludwig and Bowser then glance at Tenebris, followed by the black-tipped wand on his table.

"I have that same wand," Morton informed before putting two and two together. The Star Spirits referred to Tenebris as Sage; Morton found a wand at the Temple of Tenebris, which looks just like the one Tenebris owns, "Wait... You're a Sage."

"Precisely. I'm the Sage of the Cosmos, which explains what I know about the universe, combined with my desire to balance order and chaos," Tenebris explained, causing the koopas to gape, "You found my wand, which means you're holding onto one of the most powerful artifacts on the planet. Find the other three and you can defeat the Elder Gods."

"Wait," Ludwig piped up, "Does that mean... Morton's a Sage now?"

Tenebris shakes his head, "One important reminder is you don't choose the Wand, but rather, the Wand chooses you. Even if it doesn't choose you, you can still exercise a portion of the Wand's power, if there's no declared Sage for that Wand, but you won't be able to in full. That's all I can say on this matter."

Ludwig nods his head in understanding, while Bowser stares at the Star Spirits and Tenebris with a questioning expression.

"So, where are the 3 other Sages? Or the 3 other Wands? We were aware of such wands before, but we never knew they made up the Celestial Wand."

"We cannot predict where they will be in the Twelfth Age for two reasons. First off, we're in the Ninth Age, and second, the Wands are god artifacts. We cannot predict the futures of the god artifacts, as they don't rely on our power," Klevar expressed, "But we can tell you where they are in the Ninth Age. The Wand of the Elements is held by Sage Fyrydor of Yoshi's Island, while the Wand of Light's controlled by Sage Aurora Koopa of the Koopa Kingdom. The Wand of the Spirit, however, has no Sage. The Wand's hidden in another realm. It's brought out only in times of emergency due to its direct connection to the Elder Gods' anima flow. If this still rings true, getting this Wand will be the toughest."

The name Aurora Koopa rings a bell in Bowser's mind. She's not only his ancestor, but she's also one of the original founders of the Koopa Kingdom. He also recalls the wand his father gave him (in which Bowser gave to Kamek due to being unable to work it): the Wand of Darkness. This wand was powerful enough to fuel the magic of all magikoopas and the magic of his children, but Bowser never thought twice about it until now. This 'Wand of Darkness', prime indicator of the King and Queen of the Koopa Kingdom and thus passed down the Koopa Family line, may well be the Wand of Light. If true, the Magikoopas have the Wand on behalf of the Dark Land King.

That leaves the Wand of the Elements, most likely somewhere within Yoshi's Island. Bowser will need to confront Yoshi about finding this one first.

"We'll keep an eye out for more wands," Ludwig pledged, "A thousand thank-yous for your assistance, Star Spirits."

"Don't worry," comforted Kalmar, "I believe in you guys and the leadership of Council. You'll get this done."

As Kalmar states his final words, he turns towards the manuscript and crashes into it. The six others follow his lead, each offering their goodbyes before doing so.

Meanwhile, Roy stands behind the group, astonished at the revelation he just received. He knew his father and Ludwig were conspiring on something, but he never knew it was as large a scale as this. He knew right away that if his dad or siblings caught him, he'd be jailed and executed due to the knowledge he now possesses.

He was about to inch up closer towards the group in order to understand their plan in full, but the next words spoken by Tenebris sends chills up Roy's spine.

"Anyone else feel an extra… Presence here?"

Morton and Ludwig exchange glances before Morton speaks up.

"Only two others have full access to this area, and speaking of those two, my spies state that there are no signs of Larry or Roy in this kingdom, nor anywhere in the Ninth Age. But it's possible that one of them found an invisibility shroom here and are now spying on us. It's quite a… Larry thing to do."

"No worries. I can reverse the invisibility the mushrooms give," Tenebris stated before muttering a spout of ancient chants.

Now panicking, Roy removes the manuscript containing the seven elder gods from his shell and rips it to shreds, causing a sudden wind to kick up before he reappears in his room, right by the table he placed the same manuscript on, only this time, it's whole.

"Oof… Close one…" Roy sighed in relief as he signs off the computer. Receiving the knowledge he did and escaping without incident proves enough of an accomplishment.


	4. Summons

NOTES: By the way, Fanfiction's messing with me right now by combining two separate words into one every time I copy and paste, and I only see them when I read the actual published chapter. I try to fix them ASAP, but as I'm stuck on Mobile for another week, I may be slow at it. So if you see randomly combined words, that may be why.

* * *

Morton gazes at his Wand and sighs. The Wand's power did conclude that a spy or two were within their midst, and he may have an educated guess on whom such spies are. He looks over at Tenebris, whose expression shows the same conclusion. Meanwhile, Ludwig and Bowser stare at the two, both confused.

"Well...?" the koopa king rushed, "Is there anything else?"

"No. Is there anything you're thinking of?" Tenebris questioned before going on a tangent, "Actually, I do. What is the Wand of Light being used for in the Twelfth Age?"

Bowser shrugs, "I was supposed to be the heir of it, but the Magikoopas have control of it."

Tenebris shakes his head, "I'm... Not quite sure if that's the best idea or not. Magikoopas are... Well, they're living under a curse. Are you familiar with the Rite of Revitalization?"

"I've heard of such mentionings from Kamek, but nothing of detail," Ludwig replied. Bowser and Morton nod at the answer.

Tenebris sits up in his chair, clasps his hands together and exhales.

"Well, it relates to the Wands and the Elder Gods. We have typical energy, but as mentioned before, we also have a spiritual-like energy: anima. This anima... It's not only energy, but also a source of fuel. It's the ultimate lifeforce. Everything's created spiritually from anima before taking a physical lifeforce; as such, spiritually kill something, and the physical decay follows. In other words, drain the anima of a place, and it becomes a barren, uninhabitable land. Likewise, drain a being of their anima, and they die. Therefore, the Elder Gods need a constant flow of anima, and that required the Celestial Wand.

"The Celestial Wand was split, of course, but add the powers of the four Wands, and you get the same power the Celestial Wand would've otherwise possessed. The Wand of Light, which you have, determines knowledge of good and evil. The Wand of the Cosmos, which Morton has and I possess during this eon, determines the betterment through order and chaos. Lastly, the Wand of the Elements, which is still not found, is the physical manifestation of such traits, if that makes sense. But, the one that concerns us the most, and is the subject I want to talk about, is the Wand of the Spirit. As such, the Spirit Wand differs from the other three in terms of who controls it.

"Our planet has a lot of life, and it had much more of it throughout its history. Thus, while the Spirit Wand can help with spiritual awakenings, the prime purpose of the Wand of the Spirit is saturating the Elder Gods with anima and recycling the anima itself. Hence, the Wand of the Spirit's powerful enough to transform spirits into that anima force, or to even manipulate these spirits. However, due to the immense importance of the Wand of the Spirit and the Spirit Wand's massive amount of power, guardians were implemented rather than a single Sage.

"The Spirit Wand is not held by a single person, as the other three are, but rather by three guardians, each with distinct roles. The First Guardian balances "creation", or rather the manipulation of anima into immortal spirits according to the wishes of the Spirit Wand itself. The Second Guardian balances "destruction", or the the conversion of spirits into anima according to the wishes of the Wand of Light. This won't make sense in a mortal standpoint, but these powers, while from the Wand, are also separate from it, in a way. Lastly, the Third Guardian—who is typically called the Sage of the Spirit due to the Wand being under the Third Guardian's possession—balances the transition between mortal and immortal states, or otherwise "birth, death, reincarnation or revival" according to the wants of the four balanced Wands. All three Guardians work together to recycle anima and to funnel it to the Elder Gods. These roles are concreted and well-balanced among the trio to the point where abuse of the Spirit Wand is near impossible, unless the Wand of Light is corrupted.

"The complexity also sprouted several species that help each Guardian. Nimbis aid the First Guardian, while D-Men and Shaydes aid the Second Guardian. But what matters the most right now are who aids the Third Guardian: duplighosts, shroobs and magikoopas.

"You see, magikoopas, duplighosts and shroobs are thought to have been created, or at least anointed, via the Wand of the Spirit to manipulate and direct anima to the Elder Gods or to the planet. But every so often, the magikoopas estimate every hundred years, the Wand of the Spirit requires a sacrifice of one each of its magikoopas, duplighosts and shroobs to refuel its anima; the specific steps on how to go about the sacrifice have been engrained in Magikoopa learning. This ritual is what I mean by the Rite of Revitalization. It just so happens that the year you live in will mark the 100th year since the latest one, which means it'll happen soon."

Morton and Ludwig nod at the explanation while Bowser rubs his chin, deep in thought.

"Wait. What does this mean?"

"Imagine this, Bowser," Tenebris started, "You're required to sacrifice your people. You'd want that to end, right?"

"Right."

"That's what the Magikoopas want. They want a Sage of the Spirit sympathetic to their causes to be anointed, because they won't need to do sacrifices with the Spirit Sage in existence. Of course, to anoint a Sage, the Wand must be in their possession. It may be an extreme prediction, but they could use the Wand of Light to bring such events forward. Bad news added to this worst-case scenario: through a power maintenance mechanism we call the Power Square, the Wand of Light overpowers the Wand of the Spirit, so once the Spirit Wand's found and a Spirit Sage is confirmed, the Magikoopas can take it over. The only thing able to stop the Magikoopas in this case is the Wand of the Elements, which is why they're determined to not only find it, but to stash it somewhere or set up a puppet Elemental Sage."

After pondering the hypothetical situation, Bowser nods. Meanwhile, Morton stares at his Wand, seeming to plan the next move.

"Should we be worried about them? They've been instrumental in our base's creation and function."

"It's hard to say," Tenebris concluded, "If they want to end the sacrifices, that's one thing; it's honestly a great intention. But keep track of their moves in case they crave more power."

"Done deal," Morton replied before staring at Ludwig and Bowser, "You two good?"

"Affirmative," Ludwig stated before standing up from the couch, "We'll continue searching for the two Wands in question. Do you think we'll be allowed the Wand of the Spirit?"

"Most definitely. We've had Spirit Sages come in less serious times. The Elder Gods waking up is perhaps the most serious matter Plit will ever deal with. The problem is, finding the Wand is the Wand's trial period itself; it's not like the other three where anyone can get them, but they'd just need to do extra steps to unleash the full power. So,expect the search for the Wand of the Spirit to be the most difficult."

"A thousand thank-yous for the information, Tenebris. We will do everything in our power to protect both our planet and our civilization," Ludwig thanked.

"Good luck on the journey, you three. I'll be in touch with you, Morton."

As Bowser rips his manuscript, a slew of blue lights surrounds the three koopas and everything around them goes black.

* * *

A lush, velvet throne rests on top a levelled stone stage, surrounded in part by black candlesticks. Crimson paint dons the upper two-thirds of the walls while a rusty-red tinge of carpet-like material covers the lower third, separated by an inch of elegant redwood. A dartboard depicting Mario's face rests on the throne's opposing wall to the left of the door leading to the main hall. Despite the room being Bowser's primary room of residence, no such activity occurs in said chamber.

On a table nested just to the right of the throne rests an unidentified document, seemingly created from papyrus. The document flashes a strange blue color before it spits out Ludwig, Morton and Bowser.

"You never told me you were a Sage, Morton," Bowser complained.

Morton rolls his eyes before he pulls out the black-tipped wand he discovered at the Temple's digsite.

"As Tenebris and the Star Spirits said, the Wand chooses the Sage, not the other way around. I'm learning how to use the power more, but I'm nowhere near a Sage. I wasn't ever confirmed."

"But you still have the Wand of the Cosmos. That was one of the ones Scholar's been searching franticly for. Any other secrets you're hiding?"

Morton, putting the Wand back into his shell, shakes his head. He kept the wand secret due to his fear of people lusting for power. While the Magikoopas appear trusting with the Wand of Light, the statuses of TWO wands remain unknown, and that's too much uncertainty to suddenly brag about having the Wand of the Cosmos.

"Scholar wasn't supposed to look for the Cosmic Wand! I had it the entire time, and Goombella and the others knew that!"

"No big deal, but I feel someone journeyed with us," Bowser stated, "Larry and Roy are obvious suspects."

Despite knowing the intruders' identities, Morton remains silent, denying confirming their identifies while Ludwig plays devil's advocate for his two younger siblings.

"Lawrence's one of us now, Father," Ludwig reminded before he does a roundabout to defend Roy from Bowser's wrath, "And do you honestly believe Roy has the intellect and capabilities to figure out an ancient document?"

"… Good point," Bowser sighed, "But I don't want ANY word going out about these four Wands, or it's automatic dungeon and execution. This information is ONLY for Council and Scholar to know. Understand?"

Morton and Ludwig both nod their heads in the affirmative.

"Now, tell your teams to continue what they're doing. People are restless over the Daisy disappearance scheme we pulled as an excuse to conduct the search. We MUST find that Wand of the Elements before the citizens realized they've been duped."

"Are the Scholars working on it?" Morton questioned.

"That's ALL they're doing right now, according to Frankly."

"Shouldn't some Scholars also check to see for possible hints of where the Wand of the Spirit is, especially to monitor the Magikoopas' actions towards it?"

"We'll worry about the Spirit Wand soon, Morton. I know Scholar's a specialized group under the Emissary League, but let me and King Boo handle the Scholars on behalf of Council, and that's having them find the Wand of the Elements. You focus on the rest of your Emissary."

"Fine. I'll tell my Emissary workers to keep the citizens dumbed down," Morton replied, "We have propaganda techniques that tend to work."

Bowser smirks at the idea while Ludwig gazes at his 'work' phone.

"Well, Father. We should get back; Lawrence's orientation starts soon."

Bowser nods before pulling out his 'work' phone and pushing a button, resulting in a violet warp pipe popping up. Meanwhile, Morton facepalms.

"Dammit! I have business to take care of down here first," Morton swore, "I'll have Jolene represent me up there."

"Noted," Ludwig reaffirmed before jumping down the Pipe, followed by Bowser.

As the pipe disappears, Morton sighs and pulls out his work phone. In his Contacts, he chooses Jolene's listing then sends out a text message to her.

Morton: represent me at larrys orientation plz, emissary business on plit

Putting his phone away, Morton journeys from the throne room towards his section of the Castle. As he turns the corner, he runs into Lemmy... Quite literally.

Out of his siblings' changes, Lemmy's always surprised him the most. Lemmy transformed from a slothful slacker to a wealthy investor and entrepreneur. He spends his waking hours managing two companies and investing in several others. Although Lemmy's too busy to even relax according to the others, he still squeezes time to unleash his unchanged childish attitude off-hours.

"Ow!" The ball-riding koopaling screeched as he falls off his favorite green-and-yellow-starred ball, shell-first onto the ground.

"Oh, hi Lem, sorry about that," Morton greeted as he reaches his hand out to Lemmy, who then grabs hold. Morton hoists him back onto his ball before preparing to walk away, "Aren't you supposed to be investing at the Caldera Stock Exchange?"

"It's noon. Trading from 11am to 1pm sucks. Too much risk and not enough profit during mid-day," Lemmy replied, "Although I should be monitoring my executives of UpNorth Solar & Air."

"Speaking of, how're your companies doing?"

"Pretty good so far, actually! So many people made fun of my idea of creating a solar power company in Ice Land, but our solar panels have been even more efficient at capturing energy than any other company by not requiring direct sunlight!" Lemmy giggled, "We're even getting orders from across the Mushroom Kingdom! We finished an anonymous order for 700 of them last week; that was a huge boost to us. The anonymous part was fishy though; it felt like they were organizing some super-secret society. But it doesn't matter; with that order, the Mushroom Kingdom Exchange Commission allowed UpNorth to be listed on the New Donk Stock Exchange and Caldera Stock Exchange under stock index UNSA also, so we're no longer just a Glacialis Market Exchange penny stock!"

"Nice," Morton nodded, "I heard Ice Land's set to be the first government in the world to be 100 percent independent from fossil fuels in two years."

"Yeah, it's awesome! We're really making headway in Ice Land, with all the fears about climate change melting the glaciers and everything," Lemmy sighed, "Don't know how much of the species-caused global warming hype I believe because of the alarmism everywhere. Either way, it's great to be in a clean environment and be energy-independent, and I and the company still get the money. I can't complain."

"I agree."

"But, I still feel guilty sometimes, y'know?" Lemmy sighed, "I'm still partnered with Mushroom United Power to provide solar panels and wind turbines for their plants as part of their green initiative, but they're still happily burning coal."

"I get it; as CEOs, we just want our companies to be successful and thrive. I had to bust my ass just to keep TVK afloat at first, so you may have to keep strange alliances to do the same. Great work though; I'm happy for you," Morton stated, "But sorry again for that accident."

"No worries, it happens! But... Did you just come from Dad's throne room? I wanted to get his advice on some stocks."

"The Stock Market?" Morton questioned, "So you're admitting to insider trading? Was that how you became a billionaire?"

"No! I did because I'm creative as an entrepreneur! But I was wondering-"

"Calm down, Lem, I've been around worse people," Morton stated before thinking, 'And I still am now.'

"The markets have been crazy recently!" Lemmy stated, "It dropped 11 percent last week, then rose 8 percent the past two days! I lost more than 40 million coins during an end-bell reaction on Thursday too! So I was just wondering how much the Government or the rich had to play into the markets."

"I'm sure it's just volatility, or Daisy's kidnapping. But if I get info from TVK reporters, I'll pass it on to you. Deal?" Morton lied, "Just relax and take a vacation to some nice resort. You can afford one."

"Oh. Thanks, Morton!"

As Lemmy rolls away on his ball, appearing lighter and happier than just a moment ago, Morton thanks the stars that Lemmy wasn't Iggy. Lemmy may be smart in economics and an entrepreneurial genius, but he's not detective material. Iggy would've caught the lie, and he would've needed to be abducted into their secret society.

Morton's phone vibrates, interrupting his thoughts. Unlocking the phone, he sees Jolene finally replied.

Jolene: will do sir

Morton: plz be fair w him. Dont vote yes cuz hes my bro, and dont vote no cuz my dad said so. He passed an informal screening but do a formal 1 on him plz

Jolene: ill be unbiased, dont worry sir

Jolene: btw kylie won the koopitzer in investigations. Shestoo dangerous of a journalist to not be up here

Jolene: so I brought her up here too, her orientations before larrys

Morton nods. Being an original member of TVK since the start, Kylie couldn't be swayed into the Conspiracy like the new hires were. With Kylie confirmed, every permanent TVK employee will be official members.

Morton: ty jolene, sounds good, be fair w kylie also

Confident that Jolene will be a great representative on behalf of Emissary, Morton continues his journey towards his tower. He needs to take care of many things on his plate, including more commands for TVK, and of course, meet with his newest initiate...

* * *

At his table, Roy stares at the manuscript, dumbfounded at the revelations he learned. The Elder Gods, the perfectionist enemy of all mortal life, are awaking, and the only way to terminate them is with four wands, one of which is near-impossible to obtain, and the other's location remains a mystery.

At this moment, these events click for Roy. Daisy wasn't kidnapped! Rather, Morton, Ludwig, Bowser and others involved in this conspiracy staged her kidnapping to search for this wand without giving off a dubious vibe. Roy wanted to tell the world what will happen to them; he wants to protect the kingdom from any harm done by either the Elder Gods or the Elite.

Still, something comes fishy about this entire plan. How do they know this plan will work? After all, the knowledge both the Star Spirits and Tenebris gave were according to the manuscript itself. Only one source; one source vulnerable to compromise, along with its information. Why would anyone who know this information need to be blackmailed into another society, and why can't they include anyone else?

Questions flow through Roy's mind at a mile a minute. His attempts to answer 'What if' questions only led to them multiplying into a gargantuan web of uncertainties.

As he finds out more about what's going on, the angrier Roy got. Something's going on. Nobody told him. And as the now-King of Dark Land, he abhors that fact. He will find out for himself the entire story. He doesn't care how; he only knows he will.

Noticing his sudden hunger, Roy enters his kitchen, grabs a KoopMeal frozen reznor dinner and nukes it in the microwave. After three minutes of more thinking, the burly koopaling pulls the food out the microwave, opens it and stirs the mushroom mush with the meat. As he sits back down at his desk, food in hand, he stares at the remaining manuscripts: the Star Spirits and the Star Children.

"Well..." Roy observed, taking a bite of the mushroom-covered reznor meat. Tender, juicy and flavorful; characteristics uncommon with frozen dinners. If he's forced to go to a prison or some other colony, he'd miss KoopMeal's frozen dinners the most. Easy to cook, difficult to botch, no mess and zero effort.

Roy focuses back to the experiences in the past. Tenebris instructed Bowser to use another manuscript... While already in a manuscript. Could the three manuscripts be each other's keys to unravel this tight-sealed conspiracy?

A ringing in his shell interrupts his thoughts. Pulling out his vibrating phone, Roy stares at the caller ID: Morton. He scowls; why is Morton calling? Isn't he part of this terrible plan pushed by their dad? Despite his negative thoughts, Roy answers the phone.

"Hey Roy," Morton greeted before cracking down to business, "Please come to my room."

Red flags unfurl in Roy's mind. Morton typically goes about two minutes into his personal life before he gets to the call's original point. Not this time; Morton wasn't fooling around. His demeanor's serious; he knows Roy's been fooling around in their overall plan.

"What if I say no?"

Assuming Morton's been caught in his lie, Roy grins at the other end's silence. However, about ten seconds later, Morton responds.

"It'd be unwise, as an entire battalion's surrounding the Castle and every other path that doesn't lead to my room."

Roy rushes towards his window and sighs. Buff koopatrols donning grey gloves and boots – color-coded as Morton's army – surround every area of possible escape. Morton's not fooling around, nor is he bluffing.

"I guess I have no choice?"

"You guessed right," Morton's voice gives off a tone that makes an Icelandian winter day feel like a Koopaharianheatwave.

"I... Will be there in a sec."

As the phone clicks, Roy pockets his cellphone, gobbles the rest of the reznor meat (such wondrous meat cannot go to waste, per Roy's view), takes both the manuscripts and his wand for good measures, then heads towards Morton's tower, coincidentally next to his.

As Roy journeys the hallway connecting his area with Morton's, he notices the wall's color transition from the dark pink hue of Roy's tower, to that of a darker shade of grey indicating Morton's domain. As he traverses further down the connective hallway, a cast iron gate behind him falls from the ceiling, shutting him in. Morton knows Roy's now in his sector; there's no escape.

Unsure of the whole situation, Roy slows his pace towards Morton's room. This could be a trap, but he supposes it wouldn't matter; either way, he's surrounded, he might as well do what Morton requested of him. Roy even second-thought himself, suggesting he should sic his own army on Morton's, but he knows Bowser wouldn't appreciate such gimmicks.

Roy sighs as he approaches the entrance to Morton's room. Something about Morton changed; as such, Roy cannot expect what will occur on the other side of that door. Frankly, he's afraid on how Morton will act.

Holding his breath, Roy knocks on the door.


	5. The Bitter Truth

After knocking, Roy pushes the door to Morton's room. Amid his grey-themed quarters, thick smoke and the strong stench of a fire flower threaten to slaughter Roy's sanity. Well, at least something's dying in this room.

"Well, well, well... Look who we have here. Someone who's been exploring in information not meant for him, and has been caught red-handed in the act," Morton greeted as he loiters by his chamber windows, holding a fire flower in his right hand as he observes the placement of his troops. He pulls out his phone with his other hand, punches in a few keys, then puts it away, "I might as well send my troops home now, as you're now here."

"Dude, the hell's goin' on here? You're doing fire flowers?" Roy interrogated, not considering Morton's previous utterance.

"Top-quality Crimson Haze from Donut Plains; one of the smoother strains. It was always one of my favorites when Dad had us take over Dinosaur Land. Wanna hit?" Morton questioned as he offers Roy the fire flower.

"No!" Roy exclaimed, "Don't you know fire flowers are banned in Dark Land?!"

"Give me a break," Morton grumbled, "When you're around a dozen other influential people and monarchs who crave nothing but power and money, all while tasked with saving civilization as we know it, you'll start finding other ways to escape reality."

"That doesn't excuse your behavior-"

"Oh looky. Being King made Bad Boy Roy a goody-two-shoes. Too bad you cannot continue those duties; they seemed perfect for you," Morton smirked.

"And who says?" Roy questioned in a sassy tone, "I have more power than ya. I can arrest ya."

Morton smirks as he walks towards the couch opposing Roy and sits down before covering the fire flower with a large lid.

"You forgot what's going on outside? Because there, you are wrong. This is my area; I control it, and I have the backing of the world government also."

"… World government? We don't have none of that."

"Yes, we do," Morton sighed, "I should be happy that the secret's not out, as that means our security's doing its job, but I can't stand not having people I care about not know the truth, especially you, Roy. We are close bros… Should be, anyway. You see, the Mushroom Kingdom, Dark Land, Sarasaland, Jewelry Land, Emerald City, Dinosaur World… They don't exist anymore."

Confusion written all over his face, Roy eyes Morton before questioning, "The hell you mean, Morty? 'Course they do! Check a map! That fire flower getting to your head?"

"It means what I just said. You see, five years ago, you'd be absolutely right. The Dark Land army would obey your very command. You would be able to arrest me on the spot. But, this is no longer the case, ever since I found those very three manuscripts that were emailed to you."

"Wait, how'd ya know?"

"Let's just say I have ways of finding out. I have more eyes than the ones on my head."

"Fine. What's in the manuscripts?"

"They take you to the past. You should know; you were there."

"How-"

"As I said, I have eyes everywhere. But don't worry, Dad doesn't know. What you know isn't his business, in my view. I don't follow Dad against my conscience, otherwise I'd have you jailed or executed on his request, but I have other plans for you," Morton interrupted, "But do you know why we're forming a one-world government?"

"No."

"Wise answer. Admitting cluelessness is a great start for receiving answers. That's how I got on this current path, for good or for bad," Morton acknowledged, "What I'm about to tell you requires knowledge in history, especially history conveniently left out from most schools. You see, the first signs of civilization on Plit, back in the Sixth Age, showed one government living in relative peace, but the one-world government fell apart in the Seventh Age, leading to constant wars and destruction of history. The Seventh Age was perhaps the most destructive period in Plit's history up to that point; historic events that occurred during the Seventh Age was modified or even deleted, and history only favored the victors of war. Most history, temples and other buildings from the Sixth Age were demolished or corrupted.

"Now, why does this matter to you, you ask? Because the Seventh Age had just as many separate kingdoms as we do right now. With our many kingdoms, we created hate and intolerance, which led to war.

"Then there's the Eighth Age, known as Plit's Golden Age when the Star Spirits directly ruled it through the Sages. Once again, one government ruled the Eighth Age. This peaceful time extended into the Ninth Age, where despite the peace, rifts begin showing.

"These rifts, never corrected in the Ninth Age, exploded into complete instability during the Tenth Age. Kingdoms massacred other kingdoms. Slaves were taken in and abused. Diseases plagued the land. Any sort of civilization was destroyed by an invading army. Everything from the Eighth Age were demolished, while everything from the Ninth Age were severely damaged. Anything from the Sixth Age that survived the Seventh Age's destruction, now are completely wiped out. Instead, hopelessness consumed Plit; residents knew they truly regressed, from the knowledge, peace and light-hearted nature of the Ninth Age to the destruction they saw now.

"The Eleventh Age wasn't much better; it was a period where everything was controlled by two different kingdoms. Although war wasn't much of a problem, oppression of the kingdom's own subjects were. No one prospered. No one COULD prosper, because the governments didn't allow them to. Government controlled everything, from the food supply to healthcare and basic necessities—the subjects were serfs to the rulers in a disgusting feudal society.

"Now we're here, in the Twelfth Age. After the major kingdoms' collapses ended the Eleventh Age, we now have many kingdoms here in the Twelfth Age, ripening ourselves to the same potential Dark Age as the Seventh and Tenth Ages. Take now. We've had record-breaking amounts of unusual weathers: prolonged droughts, intense flooding, heat waves, melting glaciers, record-breaking tornadoes and storms. Plit's climate is changing before our eyes, but our politicians only care about wrapping in legitimate issues with some stupid, bogus social stuff only to create more division and usher in the apocalypse.

"On one side, we have koopas hating toads; toads hating koopas; toads hating goombas; everyone just hates everyone else who doesn't look, act, or believe in the same way as them. But on the other side, we have toads hating their own species, or koopas hating themselves or their own culture, and only desire to destroy their own species' mistakes just to feel good and vindicated. It's the same hate cast in the same vile ways, although to different targets, yet each side thinks they're virtuous over the other side. It's pathetic, it's sick, and it'll only lead to destabilization and a full-on world war.

"We know that; we've even participated in wars, and throughout the 2,000-year history of the Twelfth Age, every kingdom in existence had social issues like we do. The resulting evil and chaos can only be held back for so long before the dam breaks.

"And that's where the manuscripts emailed to you come into play, because they express the threat that will present itself at the dawn of the Thirteenth Age.

"I came upon those manuscripts five years ago when I did archaeological digs in Desert Land with Kolorado, Kooper and Goombella. I started TVK recently at that time, and this was about to be my first and greatest project, and due to my knowledge about ancient Desert Land, that you also have, I was given permission to tag along and handle any finds.

"One such location we went to was a barren desert. Many sand dunes there showed just how windswept the land was, but we were certain a temple lied under there. We set up tents, we survived off dried plant products and all the water we can fit on an ostro-pulled wagon. Us four then started the excavation project; whenever I was on break from digging, I filmed everything in order to later make a documentary for TVK, even our conditions at night.

"The digging and excavation lasted about a week, until during one of my digs, my spade hits something hard and solid. It took all day, but we dug out the surrounding sand: it was a wall of the temple, and not far from it was an unlocked granite chest that obviously survived decomposition. In that chest was, of course, the four manuscripts that we now have. We found other important relics and the potential evidence of existence, but we consider it too top secret for anyone else to know, let alone you. But considering you know about the Wand already, there also was that.

"Of course, I was the most literate of the four in ancient Desertlandian writing, but even I couldn't understand the last three manuscripts until I… Well, unintentionally… unlocked a portal on one of them by using the newfound Wand, and ever since then, us four received knowledge of this specific event, and it was the duty of us four to start another society.

"I obviously got Dad and Ludwig in. To be fair, sometimes I do regret getting Dad in, but we need more kingdom rulers in our area. Ludwig, however, was a great choice; he was the prime engineer of our base and our aircraft. Goombella, being best friends with both Peach and the Mario Brothers, brought them in. Kooper and Kolorado then brought in their share of people. Eventually, every leader was at least partially involved, if not fully; for ones fully involved, their successors took over being a figurehead for their kingdom, such as in your case, Roy. But, all these years later, we figure a 'disappearance' of Daisy will be a perfect distraction for apocalyptic events and mass searches for artefacts.

"We needed to form a centralized society. One where we can both search for the Four Wands and prepare for the upcoming apocalypse. We knew Plit would be a dangerous place for one, due to both the events about to come and due to the citizens finding out, so we built it… Well, you'll see where; any talk from any member, even the leaders, about our base's location while on Plit is banned. But, of course, with every ruler of a land concentrated in one place, bound by a bureaucracy, any sort of distinction among lands no longer exist. This… Bureaucracy… It's a paradox; a confusing, messy paradox. It's hierarchism, yet it preaches anarchism. It exists, but it doesn't exist either. At least not on Plit."

Roy freezes, attempting to take in all of the information before responding, "Wait… I'll see?"

"Yes, you will see. With all the information you know now, you are now forced to become a member of our society, no questions asked. Also, please know that our laws override Dark Land's laws, as once again, Dark Land doesn't exist," Morton replied as he handed a keycard to Roy, "Welcome to the Plit Representative Headquarters of Madoso."

Roy studies the keycard; a recent picture of him dawns the front left side of the card, while the right side contains his basic info: Roy Koopa – Male – Resident of Koopa Tower.

"Uhh, thanks, bro, but... I still don't get this." Roy stammered, still confused at the plan. All the sudden, he puts two and two together. No wonder why Morton's TV network's immensely popular despite being so new, and no wonder it's always targeted Dark Land, "Wait! That means TVK..."

"… Is now a propaganda network that I'm in charge of, used by the World Government, more or less," Morton sighed, "It reports news critical to any of the 'traditional' kingdoms in order to build trust, while dismissing a world government as nothing more than conspiracy. Shows are also used to… In a way, 'brainwash' people into what they perceive as reality."

"This… this is wrong, Morty. It's wrong! They all deserve to know!"

"I know," Morton exhales another sigh, "I didn't want to do this. I wanted to report truth. I wanted TVK to be dependable, fair and unbiased, but then all this happened. But the information in the manuscripts is dangerous. It's the number one threat to world peace right now. Think about it, Roy… You ruled Dark Land the past few weeks. How'd you think people will react if they suddenly learned that they're all living on borrowed time?"

Roy knew citizens won't handle the news well. They'd collapse their own society before the Elder Gods ever could.

"It's more than just riots that will happen. These are bad enough issues for the rulers to deal with. It risks their political power. But, you see, we're dealing with a bureaucracy; with elites. Besides power, all they speak and breathe is money. They invest," Morton continued, "Hearing news of a sudden apocalypse will crash the markets more than we've ever seen in our entire history. It's this economic impact that they don't want to feel. I don't agree with them on this. Not at all. I have more communalist views, and those views were what I wanted to put in force at our Society. TVK donates its profits to charities and to the needy; it's how it should be. I always believed that the cleanest money's earned by the dirtiest hands. Money's something we're supposed to work for; it's like an award from society for doing our part of bettering it. Our ancestors set up a society with this vision, where we earn rewards based off how high our contribution is. Something that's supposed to be more withstanding to corruption. Yet people found ways to make more money by doing less work and less contributions, or they'll kill thousands or even millions if that means making a profit. It's pathetic."

"Wait... So all this, just to protect their money?"

"That's one piece, and no doubt a major piece," Morton nodded, "But for me personally, it's the chaos. A depression or even a recession creates chaos, and chaos creates revolutions, whether for good or for bad. This is why Dark Land and the Mushroom Kingdom used to constantly put trade restrictions, tariffs and economic sanctions against each other: to create economic conditions bad enough to cause a revolution and even a regime change in the enemy country, all without a single pair of military boots on the ground. But the last thing we want in the world is another revolution at this current apocalyptic time.

"The Elite are concerned about the global economy in general. The only way our society's functioning right now is through money invested in the stock market, especially companies linked to the Society like Mushroom United Power; they're in an extreme bubble right now because of the Elite. I'm afraid of what will happen if the bubble bursts and the Society cannot get the resources they need."

"What about this Sage and Wand business? Is that an excuse for a world government?"

"Oh no, the Wands exist, and the Sages were real. The Sages ruled only during one age: the Ninth Age, which we call the Sage Age. Although the Eighth Age was considered the Golden Age, the Ninth Age should be the Platinum Age; people were more successful, more peaceful and happier under Sage rule than even under the Star Spirits. The previous Ages were ruled by either the Elder Gods or the Star Spirits themselves, but at the end of the Eighth Age, seven powerful mystics casted a curse called the Oath of Exclusion, which prevented the Star Spirits from influencing mortals.

"As a result, for the over 850 thousand years that the Ninth Age lasted, different Sages to the Four Wands ruled as a god would, but as they were mortals, they couldn't abuse the power, else they'd die. But, that's what happened: the Sages began dying off. First, the Third Guardian to the Spirit Wand disappeared with no adequate heir, causing a mess in the already-delicate balance. The Sage of the Cosmos disappeared soon later, followed by the Sage of the Elements. The Sage of Light technically disappeared last, but the Wand of Light's still active, and it's being abused without the Wand of the Elements keeping it under control. That's why our number one goal is finding that Wand."

Morton arises from the couch and proceeds to meander towards the window, remaining silent while he does so. Any sign of Dark Land's army patrols no longer appear outdoors, and any other conversation between the two appear dead. To Morton, now's a reasonable time to proceed with the plan.

"Looks like the army gave up. They know I don't bend to Dad," the koopaling stated as he pulls out his "work phone" and dialed a few numbers on it. As he presses enter, a violet warp pipe appears amid Morton's living room, "So it's time to go."

Roy stares at the warp pipe, "Purple? The hell does this lead to?"

"As I stated," Morton repeated, "We're going to the base. Now get in."

Although hesitant at first, Roy steps into the warp pipe. This warp pipe wasn't like the others he's accustomed to using; those of the Pipe Maze were quick, but it was all within a connected tube meaning close calls with corners. However, with this warp pipe, he immediately appears on the other side, sans falling sensation.

Roy's unsure of where he's at, but from the pressure difference, he knows he's not on Plit anymore. His surroundings appear to be a metal-plated stronghold common among ships or submarines. Morton arrives from the pipe not long before the pipe burrows beneath the metallic ground.

"Nice to see you survived."

"Yes," Roy rushed, "Now where are we?"

"Wow, you're eager," Morton rolled his eyes, "We're in X-Naut Fortress."

"Umm, what?" Roy questioned, equating the X-Naut fortress with the bunker found on the moon, and that strange, flirtatious computer system that fell in love with Peach, "Wasn't that destroyed?"

"The one on the Moon was, yes. This is another fortress, on another planet, and it's much more massive in size. TEC somehow survived the previous explosion and now lives here, although his love for Peach apparently got cleared from his RAM," Morton explained, "But anyway, X-Naut Fortress is our research area reserved for those in our Scholar League, and it's the via point to our base from Plit. Obviously, all X-Nauts live here, save for Crump who represents the Fortress at our base, but so do Goombella, Kolorado, Kooper and Frankly, as I was talking to you about earlier, at least when they're not away from base or exploring Plit."

Roy remains silent, following Morton out of the metal enclosure and towards a massive hangar. Morton flips on the hangar's lights; hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sophisticated spacecraft greet the two. While Roy's eyes bulge at the sight, Morton strolls towards one of the spaceships in the back, opens its door and gets in. Roy then follows his lead.

"What the... What's all this?"

"Spacecraft," Morton mused, "Excogitate's been on a roll; they built all of these, X-Naut Fortress and the HQ all in a little over four years. It's incredible."

"Wow..." Roy stated in wonder, "And no one has a clue..."

"No one not a member of the HQ, anyway. It's our job to keep it that way and to abduct those who find out, like you."

Roy looks around in the mysterious, yet luxurious ship. Just like the doomships, the living area's walls don multiple flatscreen televisions while the blue-carpeted floor remains unique from the doomship's red carpets. The curved ceiling and blue lighting also make the area feels like a cavern, also different from the typical box-shaped rooms of the doomships.

"Where are we going?"

Morton occupies the pilot's chair and places both hands on the spaceship's yoke to control the ship as he starts it up and flies off. His vision seems to be focused on the scenes the ship's colossal windshield broadcasts, from several lightning bolts from the dark green cloud dancing before him to the rubble and debris littering the land. A variety of buttons on the control panel rest in front of the piloting koopaling. Roy attempts to be as comfortable as he can manage, although he seems worried about being rejected by this new secret society.

"We're going to our base," Morton replied. Roy shrugs and begins looking out the window; several ruins lay below them. Once majestic, awe-inspiring colorful buildings now succumb to the depressing atmosphere caused by the dark green sky. Once furbish churches lay desecrated, awe-inspiring skyscrapers now smashed on the ground and different styles of houses lie in ruins, surrounded by ashes a sort of incendiary period eons ago. The ruins, once boasting several rich citizens, now only boast rats, dirt and dust mites.

"What planet IS this?" questioned Roy. Whatever this used to be must have been a dream resort for the top one percent.

"This is Planet X: Madoso's moon and the natural home of the X-Nauts. Many of these ruins are ancient, probably thousands of years old. Don't worry, this isn't our base," Morton explained, "But the X-Nauts never bothered to clean them up. Instead, they took over our moon and set up colony there. But ever since our discovery, they transferred their base here, and the X-Naut fortress now acts as another research station away from the main Madoso complex. As we speak, this area's being cleaned up and treated as a potential refuge zone for Plit's refugees."

"Neat."

Roy feels the ship hoist up at an even sharper angle, and he marvels as the scenery transforms from a ruinous surface, to green-tinted clouds, to a full-on view of outer space, nebulae and twinkling stars. Despite their location, neither fly out of their chairs due to the lack of gravity.

"We're in outer space," Morton informed, "This ship has gravity control, so you shouldn't be flying everywhere. But still, be careful; we'll arrive at our base in seven or eight hours."

As he stares at the blackness before him, he realizes how boring outer space is. It's… Dark. Sure, stars are beautiful, but he's acclimated to such sights by now. Instead, Roy now notices how exhausted he is. In a span of a day, he went to Water Land, then he went to some ancient time period, then he went to another planet before getting onto a spaceship to travel to yet another planet. Perhaps he'll feel better when he gets some shut-eye.

* * *

Roy awakes as he feels a falling sensation throughout his body. He gazes out the window, expecting to still be in outer space – or even at home, as all this appears a mere dream – but the ship's on a flat orange surface. He looks at the sky; nothing but stars. As he remains puzzled over the situation, the spaceship enters a dark, metallic-like tunnel.

"Approaching destination. Local time: 2:27 AM. Weather: None. Temperature: -179 Celsius," the ship's CPU voiced in a feminine robotic tone.

"What?" Roy questioned, "The hell?"

"Yup, now you see why we built an artificial atmosphere dome around our base. It's scorching with the Sun and frigid without it if we didn't have the atmosphere. Of course, Ludwig always makes the point that we won't feel as cold because we'd only lose heat through radiation as conduction can't occur without an atmosphere, but it's still nothing we want. It never rains here, it's never windy and plants can't grow outside the gardens, but at least the temperature's balanced," Morton stated, "In fact, we're passing under it now. Up there's the insulated part."

A sudden light at the end of the tunnel approaches the airship as it rolls on the metallic ground of the enlarged, immense tunnel. A few seconds later, the ship makes it out of the tunnel, still rolling on the ground.

Roy continues staring out the windows on both the starboard and port sides: this area has several red-tinted buildings and skyscrapers. A dome also covers the skyscrapers, appearing to protect from the harsh conditions of the barren desert around them. Beautiful gardens garnish the top of each building, the ground's littered with reddish-brown sand and the artificial sky displays a dark-blue, near-violet color, even during the darkest of night.

"Approaching destination. Local time: 2:33 AM. Weather: None. Temperature: 18 Celsius."

"Yes, much better," Morton stated before parking outside one of the buildings.

"Wow..."

Morton shuts down the spaceship, "Yep, this is our base: the planet Madoso, the new home of the major kingdoms of the Mushroom World. Home sweet home!"


	6. In the Midst of Things

Morton opens the spaceship hatch and the two koopalings leave. Now outside, Roy studies the towers in more detail: nine huge reddish-black towers, its outer walls consist entirely of one-way windows, and three-story hallways connect each of the nine buildings. The tallest tower, about twenty stories high, stands in the center of the complex while eight smaller, about ten-story towers surround the tallest tower in an octagonal shape. The top of each tower has a huge, mysterious pole with a round, yet spiral tip, much like a lollipop. Water condensers, maybe?

"The artificial atmospheric dome was a neat idea from Ludwig. It recycles the water we have through evaporation while also keeping the atmosphere the same as on Plit. This makes the area humid enough to not cause health issues," Morton stated.

"Cool."

"Yep. With you arriving at the Complex, Part 2 of your initiation is now complete."

"Uhh, thanks."

The duo walk towards one of the buildings and approach a door with a hand scanner. Morton steps to the scanner and puts his right hand on it. The pad scans his hand and an automated message stating 'handprint accepted!' follows the gesture.

The door opens and Roy stares in awe at the sight. A spacious hangar stuffed with numerous spacecraft fills the floor. Hundreds of spaceships—five-seaters about the same size as one he rode with Morton in—fill the hangar's floor. Most bear emblems of an orange planet with a thin white ring, although a few display Bowser's iconic red-faced emblem.

"This is where we typically keep our spacecraft. I didn't park mine as my co-chair needs it for her duties starting today," Morton explained as the duo pass through the aisles of spacecraft, "Most of these spaceships are owned by the HQ collectively, although some are owned by the Landlords for their personal duties. This ownership is represented by those emblems they have."

"How many damn spaceships do you have?"

"In the Complex, or total? The eight outer Towers can fit a total of around 12,000 of our five-seaters, but only about 125 of the 500-seater spacecraft Excogitate's starting to build for taxiing, so we have a separate hangar for those. You need to ask Ludwig for the specific number, but I think we're about 85,000 made in total. The rest of those are at the X-Naut Fortress."

"What? That's crazy..."

"Four years is a lot of time with hundreds of workers. The five-seaters were also quick to build; only 30 manhours compared to the 500-seaters' 2,000 manhours," Morton shrugged, "They were the most efficient project also, unlike this complex. Think about this: the combined size of just one floor of the nine towers has more space than the tallest building in Mushroom City. That's just one floor; we have fourteen floors, the basement, the roof, and enough change in the central tower to make a seventeenth. Yet despite the size of this place, we only have enough residencies for 7,500 family units or maybe 30,000 people, and we're 70 percent filled now. We could've easily done at least fifty times that."

"That sounds like a waste."

"But to be fair, it's a necessary waste," Morton stated, "The nearest place for supplies is Planet X, which takes us eight hours by spaceship, so we must have space for storage and agriculture. But the style that people live in here is luxurious... You'll see what I mean."

"Why not teleport to here instead of to Planet X?"

"Madoso has a weak stream of anima connected to it. It's geologically active, but that's about it," Morton replied, "While it's more than Planet X's, it's too risky to do magic here because we don't want to kill the planet by overdoing any conversion of magic. Remember, magic's all about manipulating the anima currently here—it's not about creation or destruction. Also, having teleports directly to the base goes against security protocols established by Council."

A crimson door sticks out like a sore thumb in the hangar's corner; Morton opens the door, leading from the hangar to the lobby. Several koopa paintings plaster the walls not containing the one-way windows, covering every bit of blank space from floor to ceiling. The floor's made of metallic materials—it's reflective and it clonks whenever walked on.

A silver reception desk shoved in the corner to the right of the door hosts a red-clouded lakitu behind it, reading a book consisting of holograms rather than paper. As Morton and Roy approach the desk, the lakitu turns off the hologram book and smiles at the duo. Before the lakitu utters any noise, Morton speaks first.

"Hey Lakilulu. We have an initiate right here."

"Good day, Morton!" Lakilulu answered before activating a red-tinged hologram and turning towards Roy, "And hello there! Can I please see your membership card?"

Roy reaches into the shell, pulls the card out and hands it to her. She checks the card's front before scanning it into the hologram.

"Thank you, Roy. Your MIDST is currently receiving its operating system. While that goes, let me go over the fundamentals with you. As we're on the subject, let's first talk about the MIDST. As you may have seen, members are required to have the MIDST with them at all times. MIDST stands for the Madoso Initiates' Device for Scouting and Telecommunication; as indicated, the MIDST can be used to track someone who has added you as a contact, as well as to place phone calls and text messages. It contains a listing of everyone who occupies the HQ, and a listing of every store or meeting area here. We even have an electronic store for obtaining apps with differing functions, such as for books, translations or even some games. However, do keep in mind that the MIDST can only place calls to other MIDST devices. It will not work for traditional phones or cellphones, but it can access read-only areas of the Internet.

"The second thing: Your apartment itself. Your card now has access to unlocking Apartment K1338. This apartment, as indicated by the number, is the 38th room of the 13th floor of this tower. Your apartment contains several other rooms within it, all interconnected through doors in your residence. The first four rooms contain your basics: K1338A has your bedroom, K1338B is your bathroom and living area, K1338C has your foyer and K1338D has your kitchen and dining room. You have your own personal gym, occupying rooms K1338E and K1338F, as well as a sauna, steam room and ice bath in K1338G. You also have a storage unit, Storage K51338, located on Floor 5, to store your personal belongings. These are maximum-security storage areas, so anything of value to you are best kept here.

"Each room contains the best available technology, from the holographic televisions to the showers to even the bed. We guarantee this will be the most comfortable bed you'll sleep on; trust me, you'll need a lot of rest while you're here. Another nice fact is each apartment is soundproofed and well-insulated. This means you can blast music without others hearing it, and you can control how warm or cold your apartment gets.

"Due to our anarchist-inspired society, your apartment is rent-free, and everything considered a necessity is free in the HQ. We do not use money here, but rather points earned from doing your assigned duties. However, in order to continue living here, you must perform adequate weekly work in your specific area, which will be revealed later in your orientation. Failure to meet the weekly minimum, unless excused due to health reasons, will result in eviction. Your Landlord, who is Bowser Koopa for the Koopa Tower, is responsible for detailing your work, and will issue citations as a warning if you fail one week. If you feel you've been cited or evicted despite doing your minimum, you can take it up with Council, who may call for a democratic vote of confidence throughout the Complex.

"As far as rules go, they differ depending on which Tower you're in, but as a basis, Dark Land's laws still apply within the Koopa Tower. Anything else unique to our Tower will be posted in a rule book placed in your room's foyer. We also don't have a curfew anywhere in the Complex; you're free to explore anywhere you're given permission to, at any time of day. But do keep in mind most shops and other businesses have closing times. Complex-wide rules state, however, that you are not allowed to return to Plit unless given permission or your completed background investigation is a high enough level.

"You are banned from performing any fire-related tasks, such as smoking and open-flame cooking, due to our recycled air; cooking, heating and other tasks must be done with electric appliances. Your apartment also has a set restriction on water use: you can only use a hundred gallons per person per day.

"Here's the most important rule: Council is never wrong, even if they are. Whatever the majority of Council says, goes, unless you give them a petition with 7 percent of the Society's signatures for a referendum, and the referendum gets over 50 percent of the supporting vote.

"Speaking of Council and votes, every November, we have elections to vote for the Chairman of Council. The Chairman's job is to act on behalf of the residents here in making sure the rest of Council are held to the same rules as the everyday resident. The Chairman must already be a member of Council to win, and they cannot serve for more than two years. Here are the past histories of Council Chairmen so far."

Lakilulu turns her holographic screen towards Roy before a list appears on it.

 **Council Chair by Year of Session:**

2007-2008: Morton Koopa Jr. (Emissary)

2009: Peach Toadstool (Mushroom Tower)

2010: Toadette Fungi (Altruistic)

2011: Kammy Koopa (Reparation)

2012 (present): King Boo (Boo Basement)

 **Council Vice-Chair by Year of Session:**

2007: Goombella Goom (X-Naut Fortress/Scholar) - Resigned

2008-2009: Ludwig von Koopa (Excogitate)

2010: Daisy Sarasa (Sarasa Tower)

2011: Bowser Koopa (Koopa Tower)

2012 (present): Lord Crump (X-Naut Fortress/Scholar)

"Right now, we have Peach, Daisy, Wario and Kamek challenging King Boo's re-election for the 2013 session. Catch their debates and reports about each candidate's history in order to make an informed vote. Voting will take place on your MIDST during the first week of November. And yes, voting is compulsory; not voting can also result in a sentence in Boo Basement or eviction.

"Now, the Complex itself. I want to give you the run-down on every building here. The largest tower of the Complex, located in the middle, is the Magikoopa Tower, which is 20 stories tall compared to the other eight towers' 14 floors. Each Tower's connected to each other from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor. The Complex's 1st Floor, other than the Magikoopa Tower's, acts as the overall lobby and spacecraft hangar, while the Magikoopa Tower's 1st Floor acts as a courtroom for any trials involving those in our jail we call Boo Basement. Every Tower's 2nd Floor is the Complex's food area: every food court, pub, and grocery store are located there on Floor 2. Anything on Floor 2 are considered necessities and are therefore all free of charge. Every Tower's 3rd Floor consist of the Complex's shopping center: the Madoso Mall, with an extension in the Magikoopa Tower's 4th floor; this mall is NOT free, although some stores may offer those incentives.

"As stated, depending on the tower you're in, the storage rooms are either on Floor 5 or Floor 7; for Koopa Tower, they're on Floor 5. Every Tower's 8th Floor contains a special training-like area that only the tower itself hosts. You'll receive more info on these floors as time comes. If you want to go to the main gym, it's on the 14th floor of the Magikoopa Tower; this contains the weights, tennis courts, a soccer field, a baseball field, a basketball court and a track. The waterpark, pool, hottub and locker rooms are on the Magikoopa Tower's 15th Floor. Everything else, from the Magikoopa Tower's 16th through 20th floors, and every other Tower's 9th through 14th floors, are the living quarters. Lastly, and perhaps my favorite place: the roof of every building contains a garden, perfect for nighttime skywatching, watching sunrises, taking in the view, or just getting air. Make use of the roof; it's such a beautiful area. Also, here's an attached map and the buildings' locations."

Roy browses the hologram map and notices the accompanying directional writings.

Magikoopa Tower (M) - Blue: Center

DK Tower (D) - Brown: North

Shy Guy/Bandit Tower (B) - Gray: Northeast

Yoshi Tower (Y) - Teal: East

Mushroom/Fungi Tower (F) - Pink: Southeast

Sarasa Tower (S) - Orange: South

Wario Tower (W) - Yellow: Southwest

Koopa Tower (K) - Red: West

Piranha Plant Tower (P) - Green: Northwest

Boo Basement (J) - Black: All Towers' basement areas

X-Naut Fortress (X) - Purple: ?

"Each Tower is color-coded, making identification on documents or signs easier, hence our red-themed lobby.

"Lastly, your essentials. Much like your room, they are free. You can find many products marked as essentials in the grocery stores. As for food, the most common ways to get it are to order from the restaurants on Floor 2, get raw food from the grocery stores on Floor 2 and cook it in your kitchen, or place an order for room service. This ends Part 3 of your initiation; I'll now hand you your MIDST."

As Lakilulu finishes explaining the basics, the printer finishes developing a dark pink MIDST with Roy's emblem stamped on the back.

"Here's your newly-manufactured MIDST. If you have any problems with MIDST, come here to the front desk and I'll either repair it myself or have an Excogitate member look at it," Lakilulu hands the device to Roy with a smile. Roy thanks her before fooling around with his MIDST, "Glad to see everything's working. When you turn on your MIDST, you will fully complete Part 3 of your initiation with a simple 'I agree'. Have a terrific day, Roy, and good luck on the rest of your initiation!"

After communicating with the lakitu, the duo enter the hallway leading to the elevators. The hallway, relatively uninteresting, only hosts red wallpaper, handrails and the clunky metallic floor. As they reach the end of the hallway, six elevators—three on each opposing wall—appear. Morton presses the UP arrow and the glowing orange button precedes the sound of an elevator's gears operating. From the sounds of the operating gears rather than the immediate opening of one of the elevator's aluminum doors, the characters conclude that no available elevators rest on the first floor.

Seconds pass by and the gears still function without a door opening. With curiosity and boredom flowing through him, Roy gazes around at his surroundings. In the elevator lobby hangs two giant mirrors covering the walls from floor to ceiling, with each of the giant mirrors surrounding the frame of the middle elevator. The eternal, vortex-like phenomenon between the two mirrors broadcasts for him to witness. Roy looks up at the ceiling and marvels at the sight: a lush chandelier hangs, illuminating pure white light across the room.

"Anxious?" Morton commented as he observes his older brother's actions.

"I'm just tired, man. Need some sleep."

"I get it," Morton replied, "You just got a bunch of info handed to you."

"What I don't get is why build all of this just to find some wands?"

Morton scowled, "The Wands play a part, sure, but this is more than just the Wands right now. It's about the actual apocalypse, as I was saying."

"Okay? And what do we do about it? How does this oversized thing help?"

"That's when the Wands come in. The situations all just circle each other," Morton dismissed, "Also, don't ever mention anything about Wands or the Elder Gods to anyone who doesn't know about them. I'm fine, Ludwig's fine—even Larry's fine. But if I catch you spreading info about them to any others, I will... Ahem... Be forced to carry out Dad's wishes on you."

"Execution?"

"You can say that," Morton replied, "Council's extremely strict when it comes to protecting their power, and the vast majority of people here only know of the apocalypse, not the Wands—at least outside of mythology. I have a Wand and Kammy has a Wand on behalf of Dad. They want the other two to be held by Council members."

"That sounds like a bad move for the rest of us," Roy sighed, "They know it's wrong, right?"

"The answer's exactly what Lakilulu said: Council is always right, even if they're wrong."

A sudden ding echoes throughout the room followed by the door to the rightmost elevator on the south wall opening. There, Roy notices the elevator's panel lists the numbers 1-14 (with Floors 4, 6 and 7 missing), the basement level and the roof. Morton pushes for Floor 3 while Roy, planning to hit the sack for the night, pushes Floor 13.

The elevator's door closes, and the machine starts moving up. Silence fills the elevator until a speaker above the elevator's inner door broadcasts a soft beep; the characters have reached the second floor. Soon after, the elevator makes a louder ding, followed by the machine stopping. As the number 3 above the door lights up, the elevator door opens and Morton steps out.

A huge plaza with a massive fountain, several plush lounging couches and paintings of a fake sky on the mall's ceiling greet the two. Due to the water fountain, a faint, yet sharp and distinct smell of chlorine manifests in the air, mixing in with the typical fragrance associated with new clothes. Little natural light brightens the plaza; the mall can only get sunlight from the one-way glass mirrors. Instead, multiple lights hang down from the 'sky' painting, acting like multiple 'suns'.

"Well… This is the mall," Morton stated as he steps out the elevator, "I recommend you explore around more tomorrow and the next few days, but Council wants to meet with you. I organized an orientation with them for tomorrow afternoon at 3. Please be there and be on time; you'll need this for Parts 4 and 5."

Roy nods as the elevator door closes and rises once again. Without interruption, the elevator goes to Floor 13 then dings before the doors open.

Despite being tired, Roy takes time to admire the dark red theme of the lobby typical of what he's seen of the Koopa Tower. He looks up and sees that, above him, a mysterious, clear type of substance composes the elevator lobby floors of Floors 14 and the roof. Noticing the same one-way windows composing the walls binding Floor 14's lobby, Roy concludes that the clear lobbies make up a type of giant skylight.

The strong Koopaling notices four hallways leading from the elevator lobby, a large compass embedded on the otherwise-clear floor and a plaque nailed above the elevator's call button. He reads the plaque.

K1300-1315; K1366-1376: SOUTH

K1316-1331: WEST

K1332-1346: NORTH

K1347-1365; K1377-1399: EAST

Roy takes the northern hallway down the path, still taking in the unfamiliar sights of the hallway's one-way windows, transparent ceilings and the faint smell of cleaning supplies. On his right, he passes by Rooms K1342-1346—as he reaches Room K1341, he notices another hallway to his left, with another plaque indicating for Rooms K1332-1340. Roy takes the left.

"Room K1335... Nope, not mine. Room K1336... Geez, there's one-way windows everywhere. Do these people have any electricity or something? K1337… Room K1338."

Sighting his assigned room number, Roy pulls out his card, slides it into the lock and opens the door.

The foyer greets him; the Koopa Tower's red theme defining the walls while three charcoal lounging chairs surrounding a mahogany coffee table supply contrast. A large medieval-aged obsidian chandelier shines above the furniture, while a large rug displaying his emblem covers the dark wooden finish making up his floor beneath the seating area—someone knew he was coming.

Satisfied, he heads towards K1338B and flips the light switch. The light radiates from an obsidian chandelier similar to the foyer's. Underneath the light fixture, a lush, crimson couch occupies the middle of the room, while the soft rose-colored carpet provides comfort contrasting the foyer. Despite no signs of a television or anything else before the couch, a remote rests on one of the couch's cushions. A bathroom's also visible, boasting obsidian countertops and top-quality tile floors. Two walls—the walls bordering the tower's exterior and the hallway—contain multiple one-way windows while a deep crimson paint—a usual sight within the Koopa Tower—covers the other walls. Every now and then, a picture of Plit, Madoso and Bowser hang from the painted walls, which makes the place feel homier for the koopaling. K1338B; what a beauty.

"Geez," Roy stated in awe as he puts his keycard on the coffee table by the couch. "The inside of this room is… awesome! Now, the bedroom."

Roy investigates K1338A to his right. A king-sized bed, complete with a pink comforter with Roy's logo on it greets the exhausted koopaling. On the bed's left side rests a black nightstand, complete with an alarm clock, a water bottle and a fan, while its right side has a mounted air conditioning unit blowing air at full-power. Several one-way windows surround the A/C unit, providing an exceptional view of the stars and the barrenness of Madoso.

Roy lays down on the left side of the bed, not bothering to perform his typical nighttime hygiene habits, instead enjoying the bed's comfortable mattress. Despite his eyes drooping, Roy states, "I should get ready for bed... before I fall asleep..."

However, the koopaling couldn't do what he wanted; not long after his thought, Roy passes out on his bed.

* * *

At Mario's Rainbow Castle in Upper Sky Land, Toadbert observes the current construction of an above-ground—and above-Plit—bunker. On behalf of Princess Peach Toadstool and the Excogitate League, he's assigned to convert the Skylandian citadel and its four towers into a shelter capable of housing 30,000 war and climate refugees. He's unsure why; he figures the upcoming apocalypse must be the reason, but why are shelters being built on Plit and not Madoso? Unless they are also?

The spectacled toad brushes off the concern as he inspects the castle's renovation—not only of its overall sturdiness, but its heat tolerance. A mutual consensus between Scholar and Excogitate states that Sky Land will fare better from extreme weather and obvious seismic activity, but at the expense of being susceptible to volcanic ash more than any other place on Plit. Although the castle's brick walls provide heat resistance, the construction workers install thicker insulation beneath the bricks for reassurance.

"Where should this go, Professor?" two Altruistic construction workers hauling a steel beam question Toadbert.

"The beams will be extra support. Just put it in the pile over there," Toadbert waved off the workers. Aren't these construction workers supposed to know how to build and reinforce something?

Toadbert changes his focus from the workers to the Peach-approved blueprint. Each tower's floor will have a height of ten feet between floor and ceiling. The mess hall will be the first floor, while the community gardens will be held in the next three levels. F5 will be hosting food storage while other essential storage, such as medicines, will be in F6. Everything else, from F7 to proposed F50, will be the residencies and the living spaces. He plans for each residential floor to host 230 people per tower; the bedding to be cushy at only about 50 square feet per person and 8 people per room, while leaving a 3,000 square foot living area on each floor built for that floor's residents.

He's proud of the current setup, although kinks must be worked out. For one, the castle has no access to water for drinking, hygiene or for irrigation use; he must find a way to reach a reliable water source. Considering Sky Land's arid landscape—the Land's too high-up to receive rain that lower-altitude clouds produce—and nearby Nimbus Land's warp-pipe-provided waterfalls from the Mushroom Sea, he may need to take the desalinization route. One issue: the energy-intensive process requires energy independence, and that also may not be feasible in the area, although solar energy may provide an edge.

Also, while the four towers appear in mint condition, a mysterious building—perhaps a sort of sanctum—remains uninhabited due to a pillar of white light running through it. He's unsure on the beam's source, while Scholar and Excogitate cannot find methods to quell the light. He's thinking about making the sanctum another garden area due to the light, but the shelter may not have enough allotted materials to complete that transition—the four towers' renovation eat enough of the resources.

Perhaps he needs Peach's thoughts.

While pondering, Toadbert notices his MIDST vibrating. He stares at the caller ID: Peach Toadstool; speak of the devil. He answers it, and a hologram of Peach appears on one of the Castle's stony walls.

"Hi Toadbert!" Peach greeted, "I'm just checking on the progress at my shelter."

"Everything's going smooth for the most part, by boogity!" Toadbert stated, "But I'm still ironing out some concerns."

"Which are?"

"For one, water will be a problem. Despite its cloudy terrain, Sky Land is an arid desert; rain clouds hover too low to ever affect Sky Land. The only body of water near us are the salty waters below us."

"Have a desalinizer in the shelter then, and maybe transfer the water using the warp pipes. I know Panel 4 gets water from Panel 2 through warp pipes, and Panel 4's able to provide that water to the rest of Sky Land," Peach concluded, "Maybe have the pipe solar-powered or powered by the trash too."

"If you say so, but we should also use a water recycler. Speaking of recycled water: bathrooms, showers and the sewage system's also a concern I have. I planned to use water recyclers in those areas."

"There should be a separate section of Sky Land to treat the sewage. We could compost it along with the organic trash and reuse it as fertilizer too," Peach suggested.

"Good idea, by boogity!" Toadbert cheered, "But other than that, we just need more staffing and items."

"Which items?"

"Wood, steel, aluminum, insulation, rubber, drywall. Really, the basics. Oh, wiring too."

"Speaking of, I need to get electricity added to the shelter. Are you an electrician, Toadbert?"

"No. I'm an aerospace engineer, Your Majesty," Toadbert shook his head, "I'm part of the subsection of Excogitate that built the spaceships, although I'm familiar with electrical wiring from that."

"Okay. I'll see if Ludwig can get me an electrician. Do you know how to build an irrigation system?"

"I do, and I have everything for it, by boogity!" Toadbert nodded, "I think that, other than my concerns already mentioned, all we need is staffing."

"I'll order security guards from Mercenary once everything's done there, while Emissary will transport and organize our refugees when the time comes. As far as Altruistic goes, I'm thinking of ordering a team of chefs, managers and shop owners from Toadette, but I'm not sure how far I should go past those jobs. I want the refugees to be required to put in at least some work, such as harvesting or cleaning, instead of stretching Altruistic thin."

"Probably best to see with the rest of Council," Toadbert suggested, "Why not have Emissary run checks on refugees so they can be put on a team officially? Just don't abduct them to Madoso."

"We always can, but Morton's always fidgety with giving Emissary extra duties due to the current shortage of Emissary members with respect to their job duties. Also, it's tough to allow that, as working in a League without knowledge of the apocalypse is near-impossible. It's worth a try though," Peach replied, "Anyway, I have two orientations later that I need to prepare for. I'll check in soon."

"We'll keep chuggin' away, by boogity!"

"I know you too well, Toadbert," Peach smiles before cutting the line.

Toadbert smiles before realizing his lack of mentioning the sanctum. Maybe he'll go with the plan on making it a garden; after all, the sanctum's too empty to be anything important.

* * *

NOTES: Well, here it is: the inteoduction to the Complex. This area may or may not play vital roles in every book of the series, so everything about it will be revealed among those stories. This chapter was explanation-heavy, and Chapter 7 might also be due to giving a general feel of how the typical member gets initiated into this secret society. If you have any questions, let me know! And as always, thanks for reading and supporting!


	7. Mind Probe

NOTES: After debating with myself for the past few months, I decided to include what the orientation is like, especially because of how large a role it'll play in later chapters. So, another slow-paced chapter, but I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Morning arrives on Madoso; being on the Koopa Tower's southern side, Larry receives the brunt of the sunlight, but not even the rays lure him into getting out of bed.

He's been a member of the Society for less than a day, yet he's already exhausted.

First, Larry had to admit about his failings to every Mushroom World leader just so he could stay living here; second, Mario mentally probed him to the point of near-insanity.

He should be glad; he's within the conspiracy circle, meaning he'll have full access on why such a society exists, but the information he has isn't the knowledge he seeks. Why would Council rid themselves of political power on Plit if something more than a simple Armageddon event occurred? What's the point of relocating here and keeping the location secret?

Larry knows the puzzle's far from complete, but he also knows that, from now on, his moves will always be tracked. But on the bright side, he'll be a member of Emissary and can thus gather more information through that avenue. He hopes Morton's on his side, and can thus assign him to a classified case.

It's time he plays it safe, and within Council's rules for now. Too much is at stake.

* * *

Unlike Larry, Roy's west-facing apartment prevents him from receiving the Sun's direct rays, but like his younger sibling, Roy's not prepared to deal with the day.

Roy grabs his MIDST from his nightstand and turns it on, where a new prompt greets him.

-x-

Dear Occupant;

Welcome to the Plit Representative Headquarters of Madoso (HQ)! Before you enjoy your residence here at the HQ, please read this in full. Activation of your MIDST means you fully comply.

This letter will mainly reflect upon our device, namely the Madoso Initiates' Device for Scouting and Telecommunication (MIDST). Please always keep MIDST on your person during you stay here in HQ. MIDST allows you to keep in close contact with others within HQ, as well as any agents in the DLMP, short for the Defense Leagues of Madoso and Plit.

MIDST also has bonus features, such as the ability to project holograms of a person you are talking to, a book you are reading—anything.

Again, please make sure you have MIDST with you at ALL TIMES! If Council catches you not having MIDST on you, at any time, during your stay in HQ, then you will either be warned, fined or stripped of your residency here in HQ.

Thank you for your cooperation and we sincerely hope you have a wonderful time staying with us.

Signed,

 ** _The Council Members_**

 **Leadership**

King Boo: Council Chairman for 2012 & Landlord supervisor; Boo Basement (J)

Lord Crump: Council vice chairman for 2012 & League supervisor; Scholar League representative; X-Naut Fortress (X)

 **The HQ Landlords:**

Kamek Maedgin-Koopa: Magikoopa Tower (M)

Yoshi Dino: Yoshi Tower (Y)

Peach Toadstool: Mushroom (Fungi) Tower (F)

Daisy Sarasa: Sarasa Tower (S)

Wario Wario: Wario Tower (W)

Bowser Koopa: Koopa Tower (K)

Petey Piranha: Piranha Plant Tower (P)

Donkey Kong: DK Tower (D)

General Guy: Bandit (Shy Guy) Tower (B) - currently represented by Bandy Andy

 **The League leaders:**

Toadette Fungi: Altruistic

Morton Koopa Jr: Emissary

Ludwig von Koopa: Excogitate

Mario Mario: Mercenary

Kammy Koopa: Reparation

-x-

Roy sighs; reading the letter, he already feels as if he's trapped in duties that he didn't want to be involved with in the first place. He hits the "I agree with the stated rules" button. A prompt stating "Congratulations! Initiation Part 3 now complete!" shows up, but Roy closes it and checks for missed calls. Two missed calls appear: one from Ludwig and one from Morton. He checks his voicemail; each left him a voicemail. Curious, Roy plays the one sent in by Ludwig.

"Good morning, Roy; I see you made it up here alive and well. From your travels and your revelations, you may be too tired to answer my phone call. My apologies; I should've checked the time before calling. Anyway, as I am a member of Council, I inquire that you remove the knowledge of us being siblings; from now on, in public and official situations, I view you only as a resident, and you should view me only as another resident. I may be in a leadership role, but my duties are to serve the Society and not myself. I get no extra benefits for what I do compared to you. I go by the true saying: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb; it's ironic how such an idiom's been tinkered to mean just the opposite. Anyway, despite our shortcomings, I have no desires to disown you, but to make things easier on the two of us concerning Council's actions, going such a way will be the best method. I told the same thing to Lawrence; you two should see each other. I wish you well at the orientation tomorrow, and I hope I'll be able to vote you in."

"Sent by Ludwig von Koopa, today at 7:31AM," the MIDST responded in a preprogrammed feminine voice.

Roy hits the delete option before pressing play on the second message.

"Good morning. I know you're probably tired still, but just a reminder to not be late to the orientation today. You will need to attend it to complete Parts 4 and 5 of your initiation. I forgot to tell you where it was yesterday, but it'll be on the 8thfloor of the Mushroom Tower. Even though it starts at 3, be there at least 10 minutes early."

"Sent by Morton Koopa Junior, today at 10:18AM."

Roy glances at the MIDST's clock: 12:27PM; he hasn't overslept in such a magnitude since his teenaged days, years ago. Still feeling groggy, Roy takes a quick hot shower and brushes his teeth before exploring his kitchen cupboards.

"Oh, right," Roy rubbed his temples with his hand. He needs to go shopping for food or eat at a restaurant. He could always do room service, but he finds that option useless due to his duties today anyway. Perhaps if he decided to have a lazy day—if such gimmicks remain feasible in this strange society.

As he leaves his apartment, Roy opens the MIDST's food menus and browses each restaurant. Specifically looking for more breakfast-worthy healthier food, Roy skips the pizzas, sweets and fried menus while skipping every restaurant found in the Wario Tower's heart attack alley. He decides on Omleshi, a yoshi egg-based omelet restaurant in Y217.

Roy presses the call request button for the elevator; seconds later, an empty elevator greets him, and he presses the Floor 2 button. The elevator arrives a minute later and opens.

The burly koopaling stares wide-eyed at the floor. Varieties of meats and barbecue restaurants litter the Koopa Tower section, advertising meats from reznor to cheep cheep. Being a time period between lunch and dinner, the restaurants aren't getting many customers, although each restaurant's seatings appear packed from lunch's stragglers.

Turning his focus away from the dinner food, Roy notices a curved conveyer belt moving clockwise on the Tower's outskirts, fitted with lounge seating. Of course; such marvels must be required in a large complex such as this. Not having the energy to walk more than required, Roy approaches the conveyer belt and sits on one of the seats.

With each Tower separated from the other by a short corridor, he watches the Koopa Tower transition into the Piranha Plant Tower's restaurants based on vegetables and fertilizer as he passes through the corridor. Roy cringes at the smell—this section obviously wasn't made for non-photosynthesizers—but grins when he approaches the sweet, fruity aroma of the DK Tower's fruit-based restaurants and fresh markets. Going from the DK Tower to the Bandit Tower, Roy only notices the restaurants offering smorgasbord-type meals—most likely reminiscing stolen meals from multiple sources. Finally, Roy spots the Yoshi Tower's restaurants, primarily based on eggs, whether yoshi, birdo, goonie or other types.

Roy gets up from his seat and steps off the conveyer belt. He notices a small line form outside Y217—despite being afternoon, Roy figures several others have the same idea of a 24-hour breakfast. He can only imagine how busy the Yoshi Tower's restaurants are during breakfast hours.

He approaches the line, but not before overhearing a female koopa's conversation on her MIDST. Something about her seemed familiar, although he's unable to pinpoint any exact reasons. And—he must admit—there's something about her that he enjoyed.

"Yeah, I just came a few days ago. I passed my orientation earlier today too!" the koopa said, "Yeah! It's strange!"

The line shrinks as each customer receives their orders, but Roy's still able to pick up on the conversation despite being closer to the restaurant's counter.

"Jolene brought me here. I think she's afraid of me finding out Morton or the rest of the Royal Family's conspiracy after I won the award."

Roy perks up as the koopa mentions his family and Morton. He's relieved about others finding Morton to be out-of-character, but such conditions also worry him. Despite not being the type to talk to people he doesn't know or remember, Roy still wants to hear another perspective.

He eavesdrops on the conversation until the patron before him receives their food. He snaps out of the conversation, walks towards the counter and orders the poached egg yogurt and a side of toast.

"The toast will take a few minutes in our broiler; I can page ya once it's done," the yoshi cashier stated as he pulls out his MIDST, "Name and room number, please?"

"Roy Koopa, Room K1338."

"Gotcha," the yoshi stated, "Your MIDST will ping when your order's complete. Thank you and have a great day!"

MIDST in hand, Roy waits behind the koopa until she ends her call about a minute after. He builds the courage to approach her table by rehearsing smooth icebreaker phrases and their accompanying body actions in his head. However, his prepared statements crash and burn the moment he approached the table.

"Uhh, h-hi," Roy stuttered before he pulls out the seat across from her. _'Way to blow it, Roy!'_ he scolded himself after his awkward greeting.

"Hey there—Wait, Roy?" the female gasped.

"That's m—Kylie?" Roy stares wide-eyed at the blonde, beret-wearing koopa, "You look different. Long time no see."

"It has, hasn't it!" Kylie nodded, "I miss the Academy sometimes."

"I hated that place, but I miss my boys," Roy admitted.

"True. You were the groupie; I was the invisible one. I went into journalism just so people would notice me. Yet that only happened when I started dating you the first time. But I at least learned that I love journalism."

Roy nods. Her love for journalism won out against their relationship when she left for university after graduating from the academy. But he guesses it was doomed for any relationship to never happen. He's part of the Royal Family. She became a journalist. He became a general of the Koopa Troop, and she reports on war's heinous acts. Those are not the two most friendly occupations towards each other.

"I know you were mad that I left," Kylie sighed, "I always loved you, but I needed to chase my dreams too."

"That was years ago. Like what, a decade ago? 15 years? I was immature then, but I'm glad everything worked out for ya."

"Thanks, Roy; that's actually a relief to me," Kylie smiled, "So... You're the King now? I bet it's nice to be in charge."

"I _was_ the King, before this whole conspiracy thing sucked me in," Roy shrugged, "Trust me, I ain't want nothing to do with being King. But I had to because it's a part of the Koopa family name's duty Pops gave to me."

Kylie nods, "I fully understand! Being part of a family of doctors, I felt guilty at first for breaking the tradition and becoming a journalist, but I won't be able to stand the pressure and long nights that come with it. But you gotta do what you enjoy, right?"

"Exactly," Roy agreed, "I just wanna be a trainer or an athlete. And a military commander, obviously. Commanding was the only good thing about being King, but I never got to do it."

"Speaking of, I always thought your family was behind the whole thing. How long have you been involved in this conspiracy?"

"Me?" Roy questioned, "This is my first day here."

"Oh, wow," Kylie gasped, "Definitely not what I expected!"

"Yeah. My orientation's soon. Not sure how I feel about it."

"Mine was just this morning! They really dig into your life, then they assign you a League to be in based on your answer and skills," Kylie warned, "Jolene forced me in because of my investigative work. The Council, or whatever they're called, want to use my skills to find them some wand thing or to do newscasts about the Daisy things. I'm in the Emissary League now, tasked with spreading propaganda to Plit."

"I heard about the Wands from playing around with a manuscript my bro sent me."

"I'm not totally sure what they are, but something tells me that the Wands are not common knowledge, so it may be best to keep that between us," Kylie smiled before getting up, "But I have to get my notes prepared for the 5PM newscast. I still haven't even started!"

"Good luck-" Roy said before halting his goodbye, "Wait! You wanna grab a drink tonight? Catch up and everything?"

"Late night tonight with the news for me, but we can meet tomorrow night? Let's meet on the roof; the Floor 2 restaurants set up cabanas up there. I went there earlier; it's awesome!"

"Works for me. I'll probably be dead-ass tired from this orientation anyway."

"Let's add each other," Kylie says as she unlocks her MIDST, "What apartment are you in?"

"K1338."

"That's close to me!" Kylie marveled, "I'm K1324."

"Cool. Good luck with the news."

"I'll need it. Thanks! And good luck on the orientation!"

Roy grins to himself as Kylie leaves the table. He almost blew it yet again at the conversation's start, but he at least has her contact information. Even better, for being his ex and for him being the reason of their break-up, she doesn't appear awkward or uncomfortable about the offer – if anything, she's excited.

The MIDST buzzes while flashing lights dot its outside, snapping Roy back to reality. He stands up and approaches the counter, MIDST in hand. There, the yoshi greets him with a tray containing the egg dish, a side of toast, a fruit bowl, butter and a glass of orange juice.

"Your order's now ready, Mr. Koopa," the yoshi stated, "Enjoy!"

Roy thanks the cashier before setting his tray at the same table. He stares at the garnished yogurt and the assorted fruit; for species that gulp their food in one lick, the yoshis go all-out to make their creations beautiful.

He grabs a slab of toast, breaks it in half, dunks the first half in the yogurt and consumes the entire half. Although he tastes the fattiness and the overall savory flavor of the yogurt, a surprising sweetness also accompanies it. He's not used to quality dinosaur food, but only the cheap offerings that were no doubt parasite-ridden; his stomach hated his Forest of Illusion takeover more than any Mario-inflicted pain on any other body part.

He continues eating the toast and finishes the yogurt before moving to the fruit bowl. He had no idea what dinosaur fruits were in it, but he still enjoys it—unlike the Forest of Illusion garbage. After finishing off the juice, Roy gets up from the table and unlocks his MIDST.

"Mushroom Tower: clockwise one tower," Roy read, "Easy enough. Let's get this dumb thing done."

He approaches the conveyer belt and sits on the lush seats again until the corridor transforms into a mushroom-themed cafeteria. He wonders if the KoopMeal mushroom meals are in this area, but he should be concerned about this orientation first.

Roy leaves the conveyer belt before walking towards the elevator lobby within the Mushroom Tower's bustling marketplace. He enters the lobby and cringes: the room's a hot pink mess. The pink carpets support a dozen toads waiting for the UP elevator, while the pink walls host two giant mirrors. A magnificent crystal chandelier, to blend in with the pink theme of the Tower, also displays pink gems and emits a pinkish-white light from all six of its bulbs. Pink elevator doors with pink embroidered F2 signs show above the elevator's doorframe, while even the added potted flower decorations were pink. As much as he likes pink, Roy believes the pink factor is too much, even for Princess Peach. It's an eyesore; Roy can understand why his siblings always hated his room growing up.

A short while later, the leftmost elevator on the north wall opens, and the toads gather inside. Roy approaches the elevator's panel; the elevator only has fourteen floors and the roof area, with button numbers 4, 6 and 7 missing from the panel and the numbers 3, 9, 12 and 14 lit up in a welcoming shade of orange. In haste, Roy pushes for Floor 8.

The elevator starts to inch up towards the Mushroom Tower's portion of the Mall on Floor 3. Most toads in the elevator left, while a few others entered, each carrying an assortment of bags and pressing the remaining residential floors.

The elevator closes again and rises until it stops at Floor 8. As the elevator opens, he finds that the floor's ceiling has a shorter height, relative to the other floors, and only a small room with no visible doors greets him. A sign stating "INITIATES" has an arrow pointing to the left of the elevator, where a pod-like structure rests. Nerves wrecking, Roy steps onto the pod, which then hoists him to an above floor.

He notices his surroundings: he's no longer in a small, claustrophobia-inciting room, but in a giant stadium-like arena where the stadium seats were divided into sixteen parts, each represented by different colored seating. A large table appears at the front of each section and a large flag of the same color in each section's back. A person sits at each of the sixteen tables surrounding Roy, with many others seated within the sixteen different sections.

Roy studies the first individual he sees: a mushroom girl seated at her magenta table with Mushroom pigtails, giving Roy a warm smile. Toadette. Roy never knew Toadette, but he always heard she was among the kindest and most selfless mushroomers in the Kingdom, and from this current interaction, he understands why.

Roy turns counterclockwise from Toadette's smile to the more neutral demeanors of Lord Crump, King Boo, Bandy Andy, Donkey Kong and Petey Piranha before stumbling upon a scowling Bowser glaring daggers at him. Roy dismisses his father's attitude before—despite having eaten—salivating at the sight of the table before Bowser: a large platter of ostro meat rests before the king.

"Good afternoon, Roy," Kamek stated from his table five sections away from Bowser, "You're late, but I reckon we can forgive you. You'll notice that your circadian rhythm will be going through constant changes for the first few weeks of your stay here in Madoso."

"I… I noticed," Roy replied, although unfamiliar with Kamek's vernacular.

"I see. Did you notice the chair and the table by you, too?" Kamek questioned, in which Roy turns around and spots a chair and a table with a monty mole platter on it, "Sit down and eat. This process will take quite some time."

Despite eating his breakfast an hour ago, Roy plops down onto the chair and starts ravaging through the food, not caring about the opinions of any others in the stadium concerning his eating. Ignoring the sight, Kamek proceeds.

"Let's start. Welcome to the Orientation and Trial for Roy Koopa. Roy, in order for you to be accepted into the HQ, you will need a majority of YES votes, or in other words, a Yes from nine of us sixteen Council members seated in front of you. But, that's not enough. Council's split into the HQ managers and the League Leaders; you must earn a majority of votes in BOTH groups also. Now, let's get into the meat of the trial. As the facilitator of your trial, I'll go first. I'm Kamek Maedgin-Koopa and I control the Magikoopa Tower. My question to you is… What are your strengths, Roy?"

Roy, naturally boastful of his character, grins at the question before answering.

"Man, too many. I'm strong, and I can fight. I tell things the way they are, so… That would be brutally honest, right?" Roy explained, "So, in short… I'm dependable."

Kamek nods as he jots down notes on a notepad on his table. After he finishes his writing, Kamek smiles then nods to Yoshi. The character then stands and introduces himself.

"Yoshi Dino, Yoshi Tower leader," Yoshi grunted before sitting down, "Question: Can Yoshi have some Monty Mole?"

Roy expresses a puzzled face at Yoshi before slowly nodding his head, "Uhh, sure. It's good; really crispy. The way I like it."

Yoshi then stands back up, grabs a plate from his table then takes a slab of monty mole from Roy's platter. Yoshi eats the entire slab in one tongue lick before doing a joyous flutter jump over the taste. After, the green dinosaur sits down, and Peach stands up.

"Peach Toadstool, owner and leader of the Mushroom Tower. From Kamek's question, we know your strengths. Now, Roy, please tell us your weaknesses."

Unlike the first two questions, Roy froze at Peach's. Nothing irks Roy more than appearing weak in front of even a few people, let alone a stadium packed with people eager to await his answer. However, he knows the rules: in order to pass this trial, he has to be honest. If he's hiding anything, that's grounds for an automatic NO vote.

"Fine. I have weaknesses. Just days ago, I would never admit it, but I do have weaknesses. One is… Uhh…," Roy gasped, perspiring from his head as he finds a way to answer the question, "I'm not… Humble. I brag a lot, which was why Kamek's question was easy."

Peach jots down some notes before smiling at Roy as Daisy arises from her seat.

"Daisy Sarasa, controller of the Sarasa Tower. My question for you, Roy: how do you handle pressure? In other words, in what ways do you alleviate pressure and stress from your life?"

"When I already am stressed, I like to exercise. Exercise helps with stress because I'm letting out all that energy into doing something good. Something that benefits me," Roy blurted out, thinking the question's easy enough to answer, "But to prevent stress I like to do things as early as I can and to plan my time. I ran Dark Land for many weeks while Pops – err, Bowser was gone, and I learned time scheduling then."

"Thank you," Daisy thanked before she sits down and writes a few sentences in her notepad. Afterwards, Wario stands up.

"Wario Wario, Supreme Leader of the Wario Tower. You have a lot of brothers, so my request: tell us the most embarrassing experiences of them."

Morton and Ludwig scowl at Wario's question, but Roy stifles a giggle as he recalls a story about Iggy, his inventions and piranha plants. In the end, he decides not to do so. He's at an orientation, not a gossip rag.

"That's not my place, Wario. If you want an embarrassing story about my siblings, ask them."

As Wario sits back down, the characters turn their focus to Bowser, who, without even standing up, unenthusiastically stated, "Bowser Koopa, Koopa Tower. Do you respect authority, Roy?"

"I do when authority does what they're assigned to do, and not drift off into dictatorial territory like certain rulers have," Roy stated nonchalantly, unimpressed with his father's attitude and offering the sentence as an indirect attack at him. The crowd gasps and murmurs at Roy's answer, surprised that someone had the audacity to attack a Council member.

Bowser growls before replying, "Then why, without permission, did you go back in time-"

"King Bowser, just a reminder that during a trial, Council members should keep their criticism only in their verdicts per our customs, and we shouldn't use questions as a weapon to single out and harass others. Please leave your personal vendettas out of the trial. Thank you," King Boo interrupted.

"Precisely. Also, please focus on asking one question at a time. Anyway, Petey, you're up," Kamek added before turning to the giant piranha plant by the koopa king.

"Petey Piranha. Petey control Piranha Plant Tower. Question for Roy. If piranha plant, yoshi or koopa remained, and Roy must save one, which would Roy save?"

Roy exhales at the question: more scenarios where he must show his soft side. He hates this, and the trial's not even halfway over.

"Honestly… I wouldn't settle over saving just one. I'd find a way to save them all. Those ways must exist, yeah? Everyone's their own person, and being king of Dark Land, even for a few weeks, taught me to focus on all citizens, not just one species."

Petey doesn't make a sound as he sits back down and DK rises to ask his question.

"Donkey Kong; Donkey rule DK Tower. What goals do Roy have being here?"

"I was the acting king of Dark Land. My goal is simply to protect that kingdom in the long term, as well as have a great relationship with Sky Land when I go back to being its ambassador. If being part of this group is the long-term solution for safety and peace, I will support it."

DK nods before sitting down at his table, and a green-robed bandit asks his question next.

"Bandy Andy here, representing General Guy, the leader of the ever-so-mischievous Shy Guy Tower, where shy guys and bandits live together in solidarity. Now that you're here and you have all this information, what do you plan on doing with it?"

"Just like I said with DK's question, I have a responsibility to look out for my people, even if I ruled over them for only a few weeks. Originally, I'd tell others of what's causing all this, especially my siblings. But now, I just wanna focus on saving them all from the effects. After all, what's most important to their lives is avoiding the effects. Whether it's relocating them or making underground hideouts, that's what I wanna do."

As Bandy Andy sits down, King Boo breaks tradition by disappearing, then reappearing before Roy.

"King Boo, Council chairman and controller of the Boo Basement, or in other words, our jail. It's where you'll be if you get 9 or more No's," King Boo threatened with an added hiss, causing Roy to shiver, "Name three rules you agreed to follow.

'Uhh…" Roy was stumped. He never read the rules in full, although he did pick out quite a few "rule"-like customs from Morton and Kylie, "We can't tell anyone on Plit, we need to do our duties in order to remain in HQ, and we must obey the final decision of Council."

Without a word, King Boo disappears and reappears back at his table while Lord Crump then stands.

"Lord Crump, Council vice chair and representative of Scholar and the X-Naut Fortress. Roy, what were in those manuscripts you received?"

"That's classified info, Crump," fearing the result of leaking the information, Roy skirted the question.

After Crump seats himself, Kamek then rises before walking towards Roy.

"As you see, this is a rather large complex, to the point where we needed 9 separate tower leaders, a leader of our jail and a leader of the Fortress. These 9 Tower leaders control who stays in their Tower, and they're in charge of documenting all work that their residents do. Any resident not doing their part according to the guidelines we as Council set is then sent either to the Boo Basement or to do work in Madoso outside of this complex. Either way, it's not a very good fate, so stay vigilant and don't slack off," Kamek lectured, "As you know, you're under the authority of Koopa Tower, which means your landlord is Bowser."

"Oh great…" Roy sighs, resulting in multiple murmurings within the stadium. From their reactions, such a comment appears to be a terrible deed; Roy knows he'll need to watch what he says from now on, especially concerning his father.

"Anyway, now we have the part of Council responsible for the functioning of the HQ, known as the League leaders. They oversee actual roles. Think of them like your boss at work. Let's continue."

Unlike with the introductions of the HQ managers, Kamek remains standing as the League leaders introduce themselves.

"Hi! I'm Toadette, and I'm in charge of the Altruistic League! Our job is to make sure the HQ, and Madoso in general, actually runs. We're in charge of the employees at the stores, the janitors and every other service-oriented job here in the Complex and on Madoso. Nice to see you, Roy, and I hope for your success! Anyway, my question for you: Are you a leader or a follower?"

"Leader. Definitely a leader."

Toadette smiles before she sits down and Morton arises.

"I figure you know already, but I'm Morton Koopa Junior, and I'm in charge of the Emissary League. We're responsible for recruiting potential members while also preventing people on Plit from finding out about any information that we all know of. As you know, Emissary also controls TVK. We also do more classified missions on Plit through our spies and other figures, but those are missions only Council and some in Scholar should know of."

"Morton's also your sponsor, Roy. Sponsors have tools to make sure their initiates are qualified, and any time they're found not to be trustworthy to our cause, the sponsor's obligated to question their initiate in the trial," Kamek explained before turning his body towards Morton, "That said, any concerns, Morton?"

"None from me. Everything's squeaky-clean."

As Morton sits down, Ludwig stands before introducing himself.

"Salutations, Roy. I'm Ludwig von Koopa, but you know that already. I'm unsure whether this is good news to you or not, but I'm not dead in some hole somewhere," Ludwig grins at his joke before putting on a serious face, "Anyway. I'm in charge of the Excogitate League. We're in charge of building machinery, fixing broken appliances here in the HQ and also developing weapons. This wonderful complex you're in, even as we speak, was built by myself and other members of Excogitate. The beauty and pristine artwork of my final designs motivate me to continue my inventing. My question to you: what motivates you? What makes Roy Koopa wake up every morning, ready to face the trials of the day?"

"Well… I workout and I fight. So, I guess my motivation is bettering myself."

Ludwig sits down before Mario, also unenthusiastic to see Roy much like Bowser, also murmurs, "Mario Mario, leader of Mercenary League. Anything involving combat or security guards are done through us. Roy, why should we trust you?"

"You should trust me because these past few days taught me that I'm not all-powerful, but instead I'm only a part of a great work, and I need to do my part," Roy replied, palms visibly sweaty and shaky. His demeanor's been calm the entire time, but inside, he was a nervous wreck.

"And I'm Kammy Koopa, leader of the Reparation League. We're in charge of medical-related procedures. We consist of doctors, surgeons, dentists and other medical practitioners. We also consist of magikoopas to promote our other role: magical-based power-ups such as boosts, debuffs or minor healing. Due to our role, we either stay stationed here, or we go with Mercenary to combat zones. Kamek asked my question to you already, so consider this as just an introduction. Thank you."

Roy exhales a sigh of relief, luckily none of the sixteen Council members caught sound of it. Instead, Kamek approaches Roy with a checklist and puts his hand on Roy's shoulder.

"Part 4 of your initiation's now officially over, Roy. We will now continue onto Part 5."

Roy scowls at the ground.

* * *

"Why. What did I do to be here? What did I do to be drilled like that?" Roy sulks as he sits in a food court on the Mushroom Tower's second floor, a plate of sautéed mushrooms, water, red wine and three empty shot glasses in front of him. Despite his hunger, he couldn't stomach much of the mushrooms, and he purged all of the monty mole he ate in the orientation room due to his nervousness and his mandatory openness. "Ugh… I wish I can tell the rest of my siblings about this whole thing…"

"Me too, Roy, me too," a voice behind Roy spoke up. Taken aback, Roy turns around and notices a Mohawked figure walking towards him, "They deserve it."

"Larry!" Roy called out, happy to see another sibling just as bewildered about the entire situation as he was, while hoping his near-drunkenness isn't making him only imagine the voice.

"Hey Roy!" Larry greeted as he approached Roy and sat across from him, "Nice to see you up here."

"Yup, due to you, man."

Larry gazes down at the table before replying, "I know. I shouldn't have gotten you involved, but curiosity got the best of me."

"Naw, no worries, man. I'm digging this free food actually!"

"It's nice, especially at the bars. They have the most expensive brandy in stock, all on the house," Larry looks back up and observes Roy drinking some of his water, "You get some damn good quality stuff over there without paying a coin. But, you know, that's what concerns me."

Mouth full of water, Roy gives Larry a puzzled look.

"They say it's free, but nothing comes free. What's the actual cost?" Larry questioned, "Freedom? Family bonds? Trust? The livelihoods of everyone else forced to do the hard work? I've been up here a day, and I already feel like I sacrificed all those."

Larry sighs as he lounges back in the chair, hands clasped together.

"Civilization's in trouble. The apocalypse is coming. The… You've, err, studied the manuscripts I emailed you, right?" Seeing Roy nod his head, Larry continues, "Okay, good. The Elder Gods are waking up… We're in for major trials, battles, you name it. But, what happens when it all ends? This over here is one giant bureaucracy representing all of Plit, which means… A one-world post-apocalyptic government. We all know how those go."

Roy nods; he focused too hard on everything from getting into the HQ to the Elder Gods themselves and that prevented him from considering the time afterward. Larry may be right: this development may not work well for the planet, but Larry's also a pusher of conspiracy theories. While most people he knew believed everything else is false until proven true, Larry, who demands any theory to be debunked, lives by true until proven false. This attitude combined with his natural curiosity may be the sole reason Larry's part of the plan, although his technical skills may also be of use.

"We need to be careful. But we're also dealing with an enemy much greater than this group of leaders, so we need to play in their hands awhile. It's best for our enemies to weaken each other," Roy remarked, "But you're too worried. Pops will never let anyone command him, especially Mario and Wario."

"Ha. Fair point," Larry nods before remembering the reason he approached Roy. He eyes the wine and the shot glasses in concern, "Rough orientation?"

"You can say that again."

"How'd you think it went?"

"In the Council's view? I think it went great. But to me? Terrible. They grill you so hard on everything in your life, especially in Part 5. My image has been slaughtered up there."

"They did to me too, and of course I got crap from ol' Bowser about being here," Larry replied, "Who're your facilitator and sponsor?"

"Kamek facilitated me while Morton sponsored me. Both of them seemed to support me, along with Toadette, but Iunno who else."

"Lucky…" Larry sighed, "I had Ludwig as a sponsor and Mario as my facilitator. Part 5's mind-probing was absolutely grueling with Mario. I think he still holds bias against us. But yes, Toadette's sweet; you'd have to be a reincarnated Satan to get a No from her. With her, Morton, Ludwig and Kammy, you'll easily get a League majority."

Feeling a vibration in his shell, Roy pulls out his MIDST and notices the active pager feature from KAMEK MAEDGIN-KOOPA. His stomach drops; Council sealed his fate.

"They're ready for me."

"Good luck, bro. I don't think you have much to worry about; only Mario and Bowser voted no for me," Larry wished before he pulls out his MIDST, "Let me add you as a contact first. What room number are you?"

"K1338. Yours?" Roy questioned as he accesses the Add Contact option on his MIDST.

"Hmm, you're right by the L337 Hammer Bros, who ironically have K1337," Larry responded, "But I'm K908. Apparently, from what Ludwig told me, the first 41 rooms, from 0 to 40, of any floor in any tower are the larger apartments reserved for elite. They're like 50 percent bigger than Rooms 41 to 99. Of those, Rooms 0-8, 23-24 and 38-40 are the best apartments in that section due to our window views. We actually see Madoso through our windows instead of just the hallway. I've noticed it; we have great star-viewing from our rooms, so that's probably why those rooms are saved for elites. We lucked out; I wouldn't be able to stand not seeing the outside through my windows."

"Interesting. We're lucky... Or Morty and Lud were looking out for us," Roy nodded, "But I added ya too. Peace, bro."

* * *

"We have deliberated, and we now have our rulings," Kamek announced as the meeting between the sixteen leaders and Roy commenced. Anticipating the results and wanting to rush to them, Roy shook his head.

Without another word, Kamek pushes a button on his MIDST, resulting in a hologram scoreboard hanging from the ceiling, in which Roy never noticed before in the room, spouting random gibberish before the names of the nine managers' names appear on the screen.

Roy marvels as a green checkmark appears by Kamek's name, followed by green checkmarks by Yoshi's, Peach's, Daisy's, Wario's, Petey's, DK's and Bandy Andy's names. His glee dims as he spots a red X by Bowser's name, although he expected such a result coming from his father. The scoreboard then broadcasts the score 8-1-0, followed by the text "LANDLORD MAJORITY!"

"Congratulations, Roy! You've received the majority from the Tower Landlords! All you need to do is now gain a majority with the League leaders!" Kamek congratulated before pressing the same button on his MIDST. Once again, the scoreboard prints random text before the seven League leaders' names appear.

Roy smirks as a green checkmark appears by Toadette's name – he expected such a result due to her demeanor – followed by checkmarks by King Boo's, Morton's, Ludwig's and Kammy's names. A blue dash, indicating an abstaining vote, appears by Lord Crump's name while a red X shows by Mario's. As with the Managers' portion, the scoreboard reads 5-1-1 and "LEAGUE MAJORITY!"

"And you've now gotten a League majority! That means, with 13 yeses, 2 noes and 1 abstention, you're now officially a member of the Defense Leagues of Madoso and Plit!"

The stadium cheers as Roy smirks. He's relieved orientation's over and he's now officially a member of this strange society. He's not allowed back on Plit, at least for the time being; he might as well enjoy life to the fullest here.

"Now, as you know, everyone's required to join a league. Even us Council leaders are in a league: The Altruistic, controlled by Toadette here, due to the great service we give to everyone here, although King Boo is the official chair of Council," Kamek continued, "Thus, you must be in one, also. From my Part 5 analysis of your mind, behavior and interests, we found where you fit best. Roy Koopa, I like to officially welcome you into the Mercenary League!"

The entire stadium bursts into cheers, save for Mario and Bowser. Roy notices the long faces of the two but decides to brush them off. As the cheers die down, Kamek continues.

"As an initiate, you currently have Tier 1 security clearance, which only allows you to travel through common areas in the Complex and it prevents you from leaving the Complex. As a Mercenary, you'll need Tier 5 security clearances, specifically either a T5A or T5M clearance, which will give you more privileges related to your job. Mario will be more in touch with you on starting your investigation soon as part of Part 6, but don't worry, the process is nowhere near as stressful and fail-ridden as the first 5 parts were. The toughest parts are now over. Do you have any other questions?"

Many questions fill Roy's mind, but he's also eager to leave this meeting and just lounge off the earlier shots in his room. As such, Roy shakes his head.

"All right. Orientation adjourned!"


	8. Cosmic Crash

By the time orientation ended, the sky's pitch-black, but nobody could tell from the Complex's bright lighting and distances from the windows. Despite being awake for only a few hours, Roy decides that retiring to his apartment's the best decision for now. He goes down the pod to the smaller enclosure of the Mushroom Tower's 8th floor and pushes the elevator's call button.

"Salutations, Roy, and congratulations on your victory; hopefully your first of many."

Roy looks back and notices Ludwig and Morton walking towards him, notebooks and MIDST's in hand. Like Roy, Morton also isn't acclimated to Madoso's longer daytime hours due to his Plit mission and appears as if he'll crash at any moment, while Ludwig appears much more alert.

"Thanks, bro. Thanks for votin' me in too."

"By the way, I hope we can have new beginnings, Roy. I know how little faith you have in me due to our toxic past concerning our relationship, but we both need to learn from the past and get rid of those bitter feelings. That reason was one, out of many, that I gave you my affirmative vote to join the HQ," Ludwig explains before sighing, "I just wish Mario saw the same..."

"Sure, I agree. I have no choice but to accept you anyway," Roy stated as the elevator's door opens. He steps in, followed by Morton then Ludwig, who presses the button for Floor 3. The three communicate in more detail as the elevator moves downward.

"Have you seen Lawrence here yet?"

"Yup," Roy answered Ludwig's inquiry, "And I have him as a contact. Speaking of, I need to add you."

"Right, right," Morton remembered, "I forgot to add you. K1338, right?"

"Yep. Yours?"

Morton adds K1338 into his MIDST contact list, resulting in Roy's contact information popping up. Satisfied, the koopaling hits SAVE before he replies, "I'm in Room B618."

"And I'm located in Room W604," Ludwig continued.

Roy stares at the two, puzzled by their locations, "You don't live in Koopa?"

"Negative. I live in the Wario Tower and Morton lives in the Bandit Tower. Every Tower's 6th floor contains the residencies of the Madoso-based Council, and each League has a Tower that acts as a base. In other words, all of Excogitate's leadership live on the Wario Tower's 6th floor and all of Emissary's leadership live on the Bandit Tower's 6th floor. Thankfully, I must add; having Father as a landlord must be awful. Wario's greedy enough as he is."

"You're telling me…" Roy sighed.

"Ludwig also has parties he throws every now and then," Morton informed, "You should go to them."

"Indeed. You're always invited to most of them, Roy. I'll let you know whenever I have one next, but RSVP so I know to give you access to the 6th floor."

"Cool."

Silence falls upon the group as the floor numbers tick downward until the elevator stops on the 3rd floor. The door opens, revealing a large mall area packed with dozens of toads scurrying between stores, shopping bags in hand.

"Ahh, the mall," Ludwig sighs in wonder, "Couldn't survive without my invention supplies from here."

"I need to check out the sporting stores," Roy stated before realizing where he is, "Where are we going?"

Morton and Ludwig both give Roy blank stares. "You mean… You WALKED to Mushroom Tower?" Morton gasped.

"Well ya… But I took the belt things that the second floor has."

"Oh, that's not bad then. We're going to the tram. You'll love the tram; E. Gadd and I just installed them a few months ago on all Floor 3's other than the Magikoopa area. I plan on doing some trams for Floor 2 sometime in the future, once resources from certain areas are freed up. They cut the journey time."

A plaque of a trolley points towards an escalator, in which the trio journeys towards. At the top of the escalator appears two sets of tracks. One track has a sign stating SARASA – WARIO – KOOPA – PIRANHA above it, while the other lists YOSHI – BANDIT – DK – PIRANHA.

A minute later, a tram traveling clockwise pulls up. An automated voice stating "Welcome to the Mushroom Tower! Please make sure you have all your items before getting off!" sounds before the tram opens. About a dozen yoshi females disembark, each squealing to each other about the Mushroom Tower mall's potential deals.

"Well, there's your shuttle," Morton stated, "I'll ride with you guys."

The trio board the shuttle and look around. Every seat's taken while several characters stand, each grasping onto a bar, a loop or any object offering stability. The characters appear to be Sarasaland natives carrying groceries – they tend to desire homecooked meals rather than depending on Floor 2's food court.

Cautious not to push into anyone, the three koopalings reach above them and grab onto the spare space still left on one of the bars.

"Next stop: Sarasa," the automated voice announced before the tram doors shut and the tram speeds towards the Sarasa Tower. The tram broadcasts the Mushroom Tower's section of the mall through its one-way windows as it chugs forward.

The tram makes a stop at Sarasa and the majority of the tram's passengers disembark. A young woman waits to board, her red hair blowing in the slight breeze as the doors open. She smiles as she stands next to Ludwig.

"Good evening, Mona," Ludwig smiles.

"Hey Ludwig! Hi Morton!" Mona replied, "How's everything?"

"I'm assisting a new initiate here. I'm showing him the ropes and everything. He didn't even know this existed," the eldest responded.

Mona turns towards Roy, "Ahh, that's why you didn't look familiar! I'm Mona, the deputy landlady of the Wario Tower! Nice to meet you!"

"Roy Koopa," Roy replied, "Nice to meet ya."

The tram door closes before it speeds towards the Wario Tower. As Ludwig and Mona talk in private, Roy and Morton stare out the windows. Sarasa Tower's orange transitions into the Wario Tower's yellow theme before the tram slows down. The automated voice welcomes the passengers to the Wario Tower before reminding them to take their items. Ludwig and Mona both let go of the bar before waving to Morton and Roy.

"Well, gotta go!" Mona waved to Morton and Roy as she steps out of the tram with Ludwig, "Nice seeing you again, Morton. Nice meeting you, Roy!"

"I must depart. Congratulations on your successful initiation, Roy. I will see you around."

"Peace bro, and thanks."

The two step out and as they descend the escalator, the tram's doors shut and speed towards Koopa Tower.

The doors shut behind Ludwig and the elevator continues its journey clockwise towards the next tower. From the window, Roy watches the mall go through a smooth transition from yellow to red; Koopa Tower's coming up.

"You think Luddi has something with that Mona chick?"

Morton shakes his head, "Doubt it. She's still with Wario."

"Really?" Roy gagged, "How does Wario get a fine babe like that?"

"Beats me," Morton shrugged.

The tram slows to a stop before its doors open. Roy says his goodbyes to Morton and leaves. He descends the flight of escalators and pushes the up call button on the main elevator lobby. Another instant door-opening occurs. Not being adventurous at the current hour, Roy pushes for Floor 13; he might as well crash for the night.

Without interruptions, the elevator arrives on Floor 13, and Roy sojourns towards K1338. The koopaling makes sure to insert his card into the swiper the correct way. The device flashes green and Roy hears his door click.

* * *

In the Bandit Tower, Morton enters his personal Emissary leader office, B518, in deep thought. Larry gives him a good feeling; he may be the missing puzzle piece the Complex needs after all. Larry's the only person outside of Council or Scholar to know of the wands, other than Roy and Kylie, and the youngest koopaling's never sated until he knows every piece of information.

He needs to monitor Larry, while also giving him access to Plit.

Morton moves his current audits on the Emissary members' quarterly performances and the Emissary training reports on both Larry and Kylie to the side – his Council duties can wait until tomorrow, but more important priorities must be completed tonight. He pulls out his MIDST, projects a hologram onto his office's projector and calls Professor Frankly. After the device lets out a series of rings, a raspy voice picks up and a holographic image of the old-aged, white-haired goomba appears.

"Professor Frankly, commander of Scholar. You're on a secure line," the goomba greets as he adjusts his swirled glasses.

"Hey Frankly," Morton waves to the hologram, "Any updates from Scholar on the Elemental Wand's location?"

"Not yet. Kolorado, Goombella and Kooper just came back from Yoshi's Island while Pierre, Goombario and Lumpy are exploring the rest of Dinosaur Land. We have other Scholar teams checking other ancient locations for any signs of the Wand of the Elements. Any information we find will be redirected to Lord Crump for use in the Council meetings."

"Nice," Morton mused, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Is this behalf of you, or behalf of Council?"

"This is on behalf of me. More generally, on behalf of Emissary," Morton stated, "Have Goombella, Kolorado and Kooper find how to access the Spirit Wand, please. Also, do not tell any other Council member about this mission; it's strictly between you and me; between Scholar and Emissary."

"I shall," Frankly nodded, "But isn't hiding secrets from Council not allowed? And what should I do if Council catches me?"

"Tell them that you were commanded by me. Let's just say I'm immune from being disciplined, so I can afford the trouble from them."

"Done deal. They will begin their searches first thing after their break."

"Thanks. Also, can you do me another favor and expedite a background check on one of my new League members?"

"Yes, I can have Scholar's Personnel Security team work on it," Professor Frankly agreed, "What's the name?"

"Larry Koopa. His full name's Lawrence Koopa. Birthdate of August 5, 1987. He arrived two days ago. He's currently at a Tier 1 security level; I need him to be a Tier 6E security level."

"Any reason for the expedition?"

"I need him to gather info on Plit. He's a legendary hacker and spy; types like that are what Emissary needs on Plit. We also need to let him know that we're on his side, or else he'll leak out all our crucial knowledge."

The other line holds still before Frankly gives Morton a concerned expression.

"Any specific reasons for a Tier 6E?"

"All Emissary League members need one of the Tier 6 investigations. I need him specifically as a Tier 6E so he can work alongside both Excogitate and Scholar, and a Tier 6E also shows his ability to handle top-secret information."

Frankly stated, "Alright, I'll start his investigation for a 6E background. As part of your Emissary duties, do you have an analysis on Larry's mental fitness?"

"I do," Morton replied as he sifts through his MIDST's messages, "Forwarding them to you now."

Professor Frankly checks his MIDST before nodding, "Got them. I'll try to be quick. The report looks good, so I'll give him leeway. I'll fill you in with details later."

"Thanks!" Morton stated before closing out the call and pocketing his MIDST. That's one thing he needed to do tonight. Now, the other thing...

Morton opens his office's back door to an attached balcony and pulls out the Wand of the Cosmos. Holding the wand in the air, Morton closes his eyes and pictures himself floating. He smirks as a blue-tinged bubble surround him and his feet lifts from the ground. Within minutes, he escapes the HQ's dome and the bubble zooms into space. The koopaling continues closing his eyes, paying no mind to the stars or asteroids, until the bubble brings him to a space observatory.

"I thought you'd never come."

Morton opens his eyes and studies the source of a voice: a tall, blue-robed woman, her eyes staring at Morton in intent as her platinum-blonde hair flows through the proto-atmospheric air surrounding the ship, even with a silver crown weighing down the strands. Several lumas, each differing in color, surround the maiden.

"Daddy!" they squeal as they spot Morton, causing him to blush. He holds his arms out to them, and the lumas all gather around him for a hug.

"C'mon, Rosy... I had duties back at the HQ, especially with all these orientations recently." Morton sighed as he pulls out a fire flower from his shell. He takes his lighter and lights the paraphernalia, "And now I'm at the point where I schedule smoking breaks outside the HQ just to stay sane. Am I pathetic?"

"You're simply reacting to pressure put on you that you've never experienced before," Rosalina comforted.

"But I don't think I can do this. I feel... Most days, I feel like giving up, or that I'm not good enough." Morton sighed, "Rosy, I'm 26. I'm supposed to be living my life, working and maybe starting a family. Not saving the entire world. It's making me miss out on everything. Why do I have to be a Sage?"

"Because, despite that self-centered attitude, the Wand sees something in you that you can't see in yourself."

"So, on top of everything else, I also don't have spiritual 20/20," Morton groaned before taking another huff from the fire flower, "Great. Just great."

"It's the Order-Chaos relationship you'll eventually learn for yourself," Rosalina smiled.

"The 'Chaos creates, Order maintains' dogma? I'm too familiar with it."

"Of course. Through your current chaos, a new you is being created. Once the dust settles, then order will be restored," Rosalina continued.

"Well, I hope you're right. I feel like I'm pretty much a slave to this Wand rather than the master of it... Us Koopas believe that there are no rightful gods – only magic and its abused specimens," Morton replied before incinerating the rest of the fire flower and stomping on the ashes, "But back on the topic of world-saving, let's talk about my plans."

"Wonderful. Let's go to the library."

Rosalina floats towards the library; with no other choice, Morton follows her there. Rosalina sits on the chair reserved for reading to the lumas while Morton seats himself at a table across from her. A few Lumas surround them, albeit uninterested in the duo's conversation, but rather desiring their guardians' presence.

"Thanks for the help with the Wand," Morton thanked, "How do you know so much about it?"

Rosalina brushes her dress before giving Morton a soft smile.

"I'm an oracle, Morty."

Morton scowls, "A what?"

"An oracle," Rosalina repeated, "Ever since Mario made my presence known on Plit, everyone wonders how I received my powers. They automatically assume it's the power stars, but it wasn't. The Observatory's powered by the power stars, but for me... It's from me being the Oracle of the Cosmos."

"Wait..." Morton stumbled, "I never knew that actually. Does this Oracle status relate to me?"

"Yes. An oracle acts as a... Well, sort of a spokesperson for a sage. A stable incarnation; a representative. Rather than being anointed by a Wand as a Sage is, oracles are called by the Sages themselves. I was made an oracle by Tenebris back in the Ninth Age."

"Ninth Age?!" Morton gasped, "You were around then?"

"I was," Rosalina clasps her hands together and closes her eyes, "Back in those days, I was known as Rosetta. As you probably know, the Ninth Age was a time of exploration and inventions, almost at the rate of the current Twelfth Age. One of those inventions was a rocket. I found this rocket after I was orphaned. I don't know what it was, but I had a feeling to use it and to blast away. But nothing happened. That's when a strange star appeared to me and sought safety with me. It somehow powered up the rocket and took me to a space observatory hosting thousands of them. From then on, I knew them as Lumas. Turns out, Tenebris had dealings with the spaceship, but because he was too busy dealing with issues back on Plit, he made me an oracle; a guardian of the Cosmos."

"So, you're over 150,000 years old?"

"Technically speaking, yes, but going near or even at the speed of light keeps you young," Rosalina explained, "Physically, I'm younger than Peach."

"Huh... So, you're saying the powers of the Cosmos were never put to rest?"

"Correct. I had them all along," Rosalina smiled.

"Then why am I a sage and not you? Why aren't you one?"

"Because I'm not considered to be from Plit, considering my last visit was three ages ago, Morton. The four sages all need to be from the Elder Gods' perfect world," Rosalina explained, "I was out here alone. I found Lumas and took care of them; at first, I thought they were innocent creatures, until I realized they are powerful figures capable of creating entire galaxies. When Tenebris endowed me with the power of the Cosmos, I was, in a sense, his representative, even after he passed on. I kept that power."

Rosalina pulls out her star-tipped wand.

"Also, this is my oracle wand. It's not the actual Wand of the Cosmos, meaning I couldn't be a Sage anyway unless I received the Wand myself."

"But... Why not get Sage status in the Ninth Age or the Tenth?"

"The Wands were rather tumultuous at that time. The Wand of the Spirit was sealed, the Wand of the Elements disappeared from use and the Wand of Light fell into unworthy hands. Even if I tried to get the Wand, I wouldn't have enough allegiance for the Wand of the Cosmos, as my number one loyalty was to my Lumas. As you stated, I didn't want to be enslaved by the Wand against my wishes."

"Wow. I never knew your life history," Morton stammered, "That... That's interesting."

"Enough about me; let's focus on you. How are the refuge shelter progress coming for when the apocalyptic events occur?"

"Ourania's ancient temple at Desert Land's Panel 3 has been excavated by Scholar; the rest will remain buried, as I want to make that my holding area. Bowser will help me with that also. Toadette let me use some Altruistic to build a few dozen basement levels, so that's being taken care of right now. I'm getting some Excogitate to add electricity and an irrigation system from the oasis at Panel 2; knowing it's in the middle of the desert, I can't rely on importing food, so I must grow my own."

"What about if the crops failed in Tenebris's City?"

"With some help from Yoshi, Petey's turning Dinosaur Land's former Valley of Bowser into giant agricultural fields. We can also see if DK can turn his claim of the DK Isles into a crop field."

"How many people do you think Ourania can hold?"

"Comfortably? Altruistic estimates about 25,000 right now. That amount's also enough to keep the area self-sustaining. Anything more and we might run into issues."

"What about the other bunkers?"

"All added, they can house about 200,000 total people, with Bandy Andy's Rogueport sewers being the most spacious at a 50,000 or 55,000 capacity. Can't remember what he said specifically."

"Well, it's not bad, but it's nowhere near sufficient for the rest of the world."

"It's the best we can do right now," stated Morton, "Excogitate's still in the process of making more habitable areas in Madoso. The sand's too poor-quality to hold bunkers, so they're trying to mass-produce soil and fertilizer, and anything on Madoso's surface or Planet X's is too uninhabitable without our artificial atmosphere, which takes years to produce. Until then, we have to think about less weather-prone places on Plit."

"Why choose Madoso?"

"It's also the only planet close to Plit that's geologically active. Excogitate says the tectonics help with the recycling of minerals that life needs—after all, it's our motto as beholders of Cosmic power: chaos creates. We could use another planet, but it wouldn't support itself or life. Madoso can eventually, whether it's years, decades or millennia."

"Madoso does look like the work of Blazing Star. The other Elder Gods must've isolated it for some reason," Rosalina closed her eyes, "That's how special Plit is. I've traveled the universe at light-speed for close to 150,000 years, yet I never seen a planet like it, where all Elder Gods perfected it. Even planets where only one Elder God found it perfect are rare—other than Madoso, there isn't one in this area of space. Most of their planets just become simple asteroids that destruct."

"Yeah, Madoso does need work," Morton acknowledged, "But the interesting thing is the Sage magic works on Madoso, despite only Plit natives qualifying for Sageship."

"The Celestial Wand affects everything, Morty, but something about it splitting made it so only Plit natives can use the resulting Wands. I don't know what it was."

"Hmm," Morton thought, "Maybe there's a fifth piece to the Celestial Wand that we don't know about?"

"It's always a possibility, but I'm unsure."

"Maybe the Star Spirits know," Morton shrugged, "I'm trying to focus on saving the world before I worry about the Wands combining or separating."

"As you should," Rosalina nods, "I'll see if I can find any more habitable large planets. All I've encountered are small planets that could hold maybe a few thousand, maximum."

"I appreciate it. Thanks!"

"It's the least I could do after all you've done for our Lumas."

"Eeeeeee!" the lumas danced in agreement, causing Morton to smile.

"What about my loyalty between my Wand and the Lumas, like you mentioned earlier?"

"Our goals are one now, but they weren't back in the Ninth Age," Rosalina closed her eyes, "The Wand back then craved more stability, but the Lumas wanted more creation."

"Oh, okay. But I need to go now though. I need to continue going through with my plans. Let's just say... I want certain people ahead of Council and Scholar when it comes to the other two Wands, and it's time to start focusing more on the Plit shelters. Council's been slacking there, and it looks like I'll be forcing them to focus on these shelters now," Morton stated before summoning another blue shield around him. Rosalina smiles as the koopaling floats away from the observatory.

"Of course. Don't let me stop you..."

* * *

Roy enters his apartment and locks his door. Unlike last night, he turns to his left to explore K1338D. An eight-seater table greets him, as well as a kitchen packed with a refrigerator, microwave, stove, blender, toaster oven, storage pantry and a mini bar. Despite the empty pantry, Roy opens the bar's fridge and finds a full stock of mead, cider and the various colored lagers. Roy found substance abuse to be a stupid idea unlike most of his siblings. He hit thirty not long ago; Roy's in his prime, and he sees even an unhealthy diet to be terrible for his strength, let alone drugs. But then, even his opposition doesn't stop him from enjoying a cold dunkel every now and again. Or... Shots during a stressful day, such as today. He also finds a well-stocked fridge next to empty shelves to be silly also, but he can't complain.

Satisfied with his kitchen, he moves on into K1338E-F; his personal gym. The E section contains numerous dumbbells ranging from 1kg to 400kg, a few benches, a stationary bike planted in front of a hologram television, and an open, matted space for other routines. The F section hosts the workout machines perfect for leg curls, squats, bench presses, leg presses and other exercises. Perfect enough for Roy; all he needs is a rugby team, and no place in the universe would be a better fit.

Asauna, a steam room and an ice bath comprise K1338G, all being Roy's favorite warm-up and cool-down areas—along with drinking his after-workout protein shakes. Which, speaking of, he needs to get whey protein powder supplements from a grocery store first thing tomorrow.

A buzzing goes off throughout his apartment—the doorbell, he assumes. Roy goes back to his foyer and opens the door.

"Luigi?"

"Hey there," Luigi greeted, "Can we talk?"

"Uhh... Sure."

Roy leads Luigi to his foyer's couch and plops into one of the chairs as Luigi sits on the couch. The koopaling snatches his wand and his white-tipped scepter from the end table and slips it into his shell before Luigi notices it.

"How're you liking it here so far?" Luigi questioned.

"It's cool," Roy stated, "But there's a lot of meetings and stuff. I haven't had time to think."

"It's a busy environment here," the green plumber nodded, "And it can be imitating with Council. I know, I work with them a lot."

"What are you?"

"I'm the Mercenary deputy," Luigi stated, "In fact, that's why I'm here. Mario couldn't come, although, on a personal level, I think it's another issue."

"I know. Mario denied me, so did my so-called 'Dad'," Roy grumbled.

"Typical," Luigi sighed, "Mario holds grudges for too long. I've gotten to know Morton and Ludwig throughout the years. They're nothing like your dad, yet Mario can't understand that."

"What grudges does he even hold?"

"Several. Out of you koopas, he only trusts Morton and Ludwig due to their Council status, while he refuses to trust Bowser, Kamek and Kammy at any cost."

"And what about you?"

"You guys aren't causing chaos right now, so I can live with you. I've always been the pacifist; how many times have I fought you?" Luigi shrugs, "Plus this place can get boring when Daisy's stuck in meetings most of the day, so I need more people to be around."

"Fair point."

Luigi pulls out his MIDST and explores the apps until he stumbles upon one displaying a security template. He fills out part of the form before looking up at Roy.

"Anyway, we must get you initiated for a security check," Luigi stated, "Looks like Mario wants you as a T5M."

"T5M?"

"It's a Tier-5 Mercenary security check. It will allow you to go back to Plit and you'll be allowed to own weapons both here and on Plit. A T5M is an unusually high security tier for a new Mercenary initiate; usually Mario wants them as Altruistic-emphasized T5A's or even a training-level T2; both strip the Plit permissions, and T2 strips the weapon ownership in general. So, he may not like you, but he trusts you."

"That's..." Roy was speechless, "... Okay."

Luigi nods, "To continue, I just need your permission to access your personal data. Scholar will perform the rest of the check from the World Police criminal database, the International Financial Fund's list of financial transactions and some other departments. I sent the request to your MIDST."

Roy fills out the missing information on his MIDST then electronically signs the document before hitting Send. He finds it weird how a temporary king must receive a background investigation, but whatever it takes.

"I've received the form," Luigi confirmed, "Thanks!"

"Is that it?"

Luigi hesitates before replying, "We also have your Mercenary assignment."

"Already? With no training?" Roy was stunned.

Luigi nods, "You're trained as you go. I know you; you have enough experience as a fighter and a weapons user."

"'Kay then. So, where is this thing I'm going to?"

"You will be keeping order at Rainbow Castle. This is a refugee center controlled by Peach and overseen by Toadbert. It's an off-shoot of Sky Land. We want you to report there by Wednesday afternoon. I'll create an event for Wednesday morning so your MIDST can remind you."

Roy nods, "Got it."

Luigi smiles as he rises from the chair and opens the door, "Thanks, Roy. If you have any questions, or if anything pops up, let me know. My room's Y610; add me."

"I will."

* * *

In Dark Land's Caldera Stock Exchange, Lemmy observes the scrolling red-and-green texts of various companies in excitement. The S&P gained thirty points so far during today's opening bell rally, and for the first time since Daisy's kidnapping, the market entered bull territory. He smiles as he checks his updated portfolio; in the past week, energy grew by 31 percent, platinum increased 26 percent, aerospace by 21 percent, the technology sector gained 17 percent, lumber grew by 15 percent, aluminum by 13 percent, and the construction industry grew by 12 percent. He has a few loser stocks from the advertising, recreation and real estate industries dropping almost 10 percent, but he's also against getting rid of them; no quarterly reports were released, nor has he yet to see a news article from either _BusinessKTV_ or _The Exchange Report_ stating negative news.

Despite the reassurance, a developing pit in the small koopaling's stomach irks him. He knows the gut pangs well; they came up every time he lost hundreds of millions, or even billions of coins on inaction, and although he always gains it back, he hates that position. The economy looks golden, but he can't help but think that it's only gilded to hide a decay.

Lemmy browses the Dark Land government's bonds on the CSE's system. The one-year bond has a 2.59 percent yield, while the five-year bond has a 2.51 percent yield. Not a good sign of economic health when a shorter bond has a higher yield; it shows lack of stability and distrust in the market. The rates could fluctuate back to healthy levels, but if they don't, the economy tends to react negatively.

Wide-eyed and cautious, Lemmy checks back to his portfolio and rummages through the energy sector; although he's happy, something about the 31 percent gain doesn't sit well. He views the graph of Mushroom United Power (CSE: $M) and notices a 4,200 percent growth rate in the past decade and an 3,800 percent growth in the past five years. Even fishier, they built four new power plants, but they enrolled less homeowners per month now than they did five years ago.

So, how did they have such a massive point growth with sub-par enrollment? Why didn't their enrollment increase with these extra plants? In fact, why did they decrease?

The energy sector isn't growing. It's in a bubble, and it's ready to burst. His UpNorth renewable energy company (CSE: $UNSA) is at risk of bearing the brunt of the imploding industry also. Every other industry could be too.

For reassurance, Lemmy checks the lumber industry. According to the Committee of Exchange & Business report, the two leaders, Dimble Timber (CSE: $DT) and Ruby Island Industries (CSE: $RBI), both had a massive increase of both sales and liabilities, yet almost no gain on assets and no increase of clients. Even stranger, as much of the lumber goes to housing, lumber rarely goes up whenever real estate or shipping industries are down - and both crashed. If the CEB report is right, then where are all the profits coming from?

This is not good, Lemmy thought. Despite the cheers around him, and even despite his earlier self, the economy's not doing well; it's only being propped up by a few wealthy investors like himself. And soon, it's bound to crash, whether today or months from now.

He needs to pull out before then, and especially before the 11am doldrums. Lemmy looks at the clock. 10:14AM; the morning rally's almost done.

He didn't want to cause panic by selling to a floor specialist; instead, Lemmy uses the system to sell his stocks. He frowns as he offers all 675,000 shares of $M at no limit. He sells off the rest of his portfolio before investing half of his capital into platinum and palladium – both are reliable, and they rise during economic uncertainty.

The happy mood of the CSE floor turns grisly as Lemmy finishes submitting his orders. His first share of $M sold for 616 coins, but by the time his 675,000thshare sold ten minutes later, the price dropped to 391. Panic erupts within the CSE as all the morning's gains were wiped out and the S&P plunged more than a hundred points. The Caldera security even had to quell floor riots as everyone rushed towards the machines or the specialists, eager to sell their collapsing stocks.

Lemmy frowns at the situation. Overall, he lost about 700 million coins with his ducking out, but staying in would've been a mistake easily worth over ten billion coins.

Amid the panic, Lemmy feels his phone vibrate. He ignores the sensation, preferring to escape the current turmoil and analyze the financial damages done to his companies, specifically UpNorth. He exits the CSE and sits on a bench outside, facing a statue of a bull and a bear dueling. He observes men and women, still donning their suits and briefcases, running to and fro in panic, while even the Caldera police had to arrive on the campus and keep the order.

The stock market bubble burst, and now a bear market's in play. But only time will tell how serious of a loss this will be on the world. After all, conditions must last at least two quarters before they can be considered a depression or a recession.

As he's about to leave the stock exchange, his cellphone rings. He looks at the Caller ID and sees his engineer-turned-secretary's name: Penny Crygor.

"Lemmy, we're having trouble over here! Me and Iggy are trying to keep our investors calm, but they're still pulling out!"

"Yes. There was an energy bubble that burst, which resulted in almost every other industry bursting. Everything else is reacting to that," Lemmy sighed as he checked the current status of $UNSA, "Our stock's down 8 percent, probably because of the bubble that Mushroom United Power had."

"Please, sir, we need something to be done!" Penny begged.

"I won't be back in Ice Land until tomorrow afternoon. Organize an emergency meeting please, and I'll join on video."

"The rest of the staff's on lunch. We can try around 12:30 or 1 this afternoon."

"They're at lunch before 10:30?" Lemmy groaned, "I gave you guys a free coffee shop and a free cafeteria in the complex, but now they're taking earlier lunches? Why do I pay you guys as much as I do?"

"Unions are a thing, sir."

"Right," Lemmy replied, "Get the meeting set up and we'll discuss our finances. For now, I'm monitoring the situation here at the Stock Exchange."

"Will do, sir."

Lemmy hangs up, but before he can browse his phone for any updated news, he receives another call, this time from an unknown number. Curious, the koopaling answers.

"Lemmy Koopa."

"Good morning, Lemmy," Lemmy gasps as he hears Jolene's voice, "Please come to TVK Headquarters. We would like to interview you about the stock market crash."


	9. Undesired Enlightenment

NOTES: Here starts the part where we delve less into specific HQ procedures present in the past 3 chapters (although we will have one more next chapter) and more into the core of the story: the Wands, and the conspiracy in general. Thanks for the favs, follows, reviews and general support! I don't always reply to reviews, but I always read them and I appreciate the compliments, criticism, etc. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Within Council circles, panic breaks out over the stock market crash. King Boo called for an emergency meeting to discuss the impacts and the Society's future plans.

"How'd it crash?" Daisy asked, "We had a ton of capital on our side!"

"We forgot one: Lemmy Koopa," King Boo stated, "We left him be due to his partnership with Mushroom United Power, but he backed out of it at the last second. He sold all his shares, causing Ticker M to lose 40 percent of its worth in fifteen minutes."

"But how did he single-handedly crash the global market?" Peach questioned, concerning welling in her voice.

"It wasn't just him; he was just the catalyst. He dropped the price on Ticker M, and from that huge drop, everyone realized how much of a bubble the Stock Market was, and they all got out, which collapsed everything. This was a barrel of gunpowder ready to fire off."

"What's the status so far?" Peach continued.

"Caldera Stock Exchange closed with a 4 percent loss; New Donk Stock Exchange closed with a 6 percent loss; Mushroom Exchange lost 7 points; Emerald City Stock Exchange is currently down 8 percent; Jewelry Land Stock Exchange is approaching 10 percent, Donut Plains Marketplace is down 11 percent, and Sarasaland Stock Exchange is past the 13 mark. These are serious numbers; we aren't in a recession yet, but we typically see these magnitudes within a month during a bear market. Possibly a week in extraordinary cases, but not in a 24-hour period. No doubt riots are starting and will start if tomorrow's no better," King Boo replied.

"Okay," Ludwig said, "What should we do? A burst bubble simply cannot be reinflated."

"I want all of you Landlords to lay out your plans on your bunkers, first thing tomorrow morning. This may be the stock market crash that the world cannot recover from, and we need the bunkers made and ready," King Boo instructed, "Unfortunately, I think tomorrow's gonna be more of the same. A 4 percent loss in Caldera when it's considered the epicenter of the crash is too good to be true."

"Done deal," Morton stated, "Jolene's bringing Lemmy up here, and we can see from him if there is anything we can do to salvage the economy."

"Why didn't we bring him up here in the first place?" King Boo questioned.

"He wouldn't have partnered with Mushroom United Power if he knew the truth," Morton confessed, "I know Lemmy. He doesn't like manipulating people or underpaying them, despite the stereotypical evil capitalist billionaire CEO image. He treats his employees like royalty, which is how he struck it rich."

"Well... That's fair," King Boo sighed, "But might as well bring him up here. If he doesn't want to cooperate, then we don't need him as much anymore. But he's too much of a threat to keep down there."

"My thoughts exactly, hence Jolene's actions."

"Either way, the economy's wrecked, to put it in a professional way. So, everyone, get working on your plans and we will meet again tomorrow. Also, know that the economic impacts won't stop us from searching for the Wand of the Elements still, and pushing the Daisy hoax to do so," King Boo commanded, "That's all. You're all dismissed."

* * *

Goombella lounges inside the X-Naut Fortress's second-floor library, drinking a cup of Dinosaur-Land-grown cream latte as she sticks her nose into another archaeology book. Every now and then, she gazes up from the book and peers at the initiates arriving on the first floor; she can't believe how she and the others found all their answers in that forsaken desert years ago, yet too many questions remain. All the research Scholar conducted only concluded the legitimacy of the Wand of the Cosmos and pinpointed an approximate location of the Wand of the Elements. Not one source showed the whereabouts, or even the existence, of the Wand of the Spirit.

The goomba sips her coffee and sighs; she knows she has a long night ahead of her. She skims through her current book; with it explaining only the Eleventh Age, Goombella throws the book onto the table's right side before her.

"Nothing there," she mumbled.

Goombella browses through the untouched stack of books on the table's left side. She browses the Twelfth Age book; once again, no mentions of any of the four Wands. Another book's estimation of the Fifth Age also gives her nothing of interest; any assumptions made about the civilization-lacking Fifth Age fits into paleontology or geology more than archaeology.

"Right?" Goombella hears Kooper complain, "We have nothing!"

"I wonder if there are any temples we need to find?" Goombella questioned, "After all, the Temple of Tenebris in Ourania mainly told us about the Wand of the Cosmos, the upcoming apocalypse and how the two relate."

"Maybe," Kolorado shrugged, "But where do we even search?"

"I don't know..." Goombella sighed before standing up, picking up the books and shelving them. She glances at a bookshelf near her, comprised of ancient scrolls, "Guys! Come here!"

Kooper and Kolorado widen their eyes as they stare at the scrolls. Despite practically living in the library, none of the three noticed the scrolls until this moment. Goombella gingerly picks up a scroll and studies it. Only a foreign, ancient language greets her.

"They're ancient; I can definitely confirm that," Goombella stated as she carries it to her chair and lays it on the table. She pulls out her MIDST, opens her language app and presses a button requesting translations.

"Smart," Kolorado nodded, "We can translate these and see if they explain anything we need. After all, the ancient scrolls should be more reliable."

"Right," Goombella stated before she hovers her MIDST over the scroll. The device shoots a red, conic-shaped stream of lasers at the scroll before a translated prompt appears on her screen.

"Where are these scrolls from?" Kolorado questioned.

"These might be from Goombario's group," Kooper answered, "The tag above the scrolls say Dinosaur Land, which was where they were exploring."

Goombella shrugs, "Who knows. Who cares. But this scroll brings up a totally important and interesting tidbit. Apparently, the Wand of the Spirit's related to the Magikoopas."

"How so?" Kooper scowled at the scroll near Goombella.

"It says here that magikoopas are required to participate in a centennial event they call the Rite of Revitalization. This event, in theory, helps to balance a so-called 'Spirit Wand'."

"Interesting find," Kolorado marveled, "This may explain the Wand of the Spirit's nature. If a Sage existed for it, then the Spirit Wand wouldn't need a ritual to rebalance the Wand."

"So, you think it's not only lost somewhere, but it's completely unavailable?" Goombella inquired, "How would we get the Wand then?"

"That's my hypothesis, but let's use the Lectern of Tenebris. We gained a ton of information about the Wand of the Cosmos with that; maybe we can find out about the Wand of the Spirit."

"Right on, Prof!" Kooper agreed.

"I guess that's the way to go," Goombella said. She grabs the scroll and the three walk towards the lectern on the library's opposing side. The goomba places the scroll on the lectern; a multitude of green glitter-like sparkles shoot from the manuscript and towards the characters. As the lights surround the character, they feel a strange force hoisting them towards the lectern.

~x~

The three land on tough ground, although unscathed from their landing. They look around the mysterious environment; they're in a dark, eerie forest consisting of dead trees – possibly the Forest of Illusion? Goombella journeys on a visible path, while Kolorado and Kooper exchange defeated stares before following her. As the path crests a hill, the trio gasps.

The full moon illuminates a slew of cloaked figures surrounding an altar only a few hundred feet away. Despite their distance, the trio hear the cloaked figures chanting before they cast magic spells at each other. The ruckus continues until one of the robed figures collapses. The remaining figures pocket their scepters before they move the fallen figure to the altar and tie them to it.

"What's going on?" Kooper questioned.

"I... I have no idea, young one," Kolorado mused, "But this is some sort of occult ritual."

"Guys! They're seriously gonna kill him!" Goombella exclaimed, albeit lowering her voice.

Within seconds, the rest of the cloaked figures gather around the altar and raise their scepters to the sky. The trio hear more chanting from the circle before they all lower their wands and cast a white beam at the altar. The altar catches fire; through that fire, the three spot smoke rising towards the heavens. The fire's extinguished seconds after; the altar's undamaged while nothing rests on top of it.

"What... What was that?" Goombella gasped, "That's totally not natural!"

Before the two koopas offer their suggestion, the green light surrounds them again before hoisting them towards the sky. They wanted more information about the process that just occurred, but they're only able to observe the forest floor shrinking in size before the light overcomes them.

The light dissipates, throwing the characters to the ground. Goombella sits up and studies her surroundings. This time, a cloudy environment surrounds the three, as if they're in the Overthere or in Nimbus Land. The area contains no physical manifestations; everything within the area's composed only of clouds illuminated by the Sun's light, while sounds remain nonexistent. Not far from them, a pink-hued fortress stands, seemingly abandoned.

"What is this place?" the goomba questioned.

"No idea, and there doesn't seem to be anyone here either," Kolorado answered, "What does this manuscript want us to know? Is this some sort of sacrifice?"

"Let's explore the castle! Maybe we'll find something neat or useful there!" Kooper suggested, "You know how the manuscripts work. They want to show us history, not tell us!"

"Valid point, Kooper," Kolorado agreed.

The three journey towards the castle, jumping over cloudy pitfalls and other obstacles. They arrive at the castle's cloudy double doors. They shrug at the door's lack of guards; perhaps this place is uninhabited, or the castle's residents trust the outside world a tad too much. They open the doors; clouds comprise the citadel's interior, although broadcasting its own indoor star-like lighting system.

"Seriously, what IS this place?" Goombella asked.

"Well," Kolorado analyzed, "This appears to be a castle's foyer area. Now, the significance of the castle? Theories escape me."

While Kooper gazes at the ground, stumped and confused, Goombella receives a sudden revelation on their situation.

"Maybe this is trying to explain the Rite of Revitalization, with the altar and everything! That's what the scroll was about when I scanned it!"

"Rite of Revitalization, huh?" Kolorado replied, "A great conclusion, Goombella. But why are we in a castle?"

"Who cares?" Goombella dismissed the question, "Let's explore it."

The trio climb up the foyer's stairs and open the door leading to the keep. They step in; the rest of the castle consists of a giant sanctum, fitted with cloud statues, balconies and other cumuli. A pillar of light runs through the sanctum; while illuminating the rest of the room, the characters spot an object's shadow within the pillar.

"What's this?" Kooper marveled.

Curious, the trio approach the pillar. This light must be different; it wasn't bright, but rather... Comforting. Peaceful. Within the column, the characters make out the shadow to be a blue-tipped wand.

"You see that? That's totally a Wand!" Goombella squealed, "Do you think it's, like, one of the Sages' Wands? Even if it's not, this is totally rad!"

"Let's grab it and see."

As Kolorado reaches inside the pillar of light, another vision overcomes the trio, this time in the same sanctum and the same podium but lacking the pillar of light. The door opens; a female koopa, a male koopa and a male yoshi step in, each holding a wand while the female carries two, one being the same blue-tipped wand. The visitors approach the altar and put the blue-tipped wand on it, tip-up.

"So, we should lock this up?" the male koopa questioned, "I don't know about this."

"According to theories, yes Tenebris," the female stated, "I'm concerned about the Spirit Wand becoming corrupted."

"Well, I trust you, Aurora, but I still don't know about this..." Tenebris mentioned.

"Quit being such a Doubting Thomas all the time, Tenny! I know what I'm doing! I've had multiple visions about the Spirit Wand potentially becoming corrupt!" Aurora moaned, "Learn to live on the wild side! You monitor chaos, after all!"

"Yes, and too much chaos is bad! Just because you're the longest-serving Sage doesn't mean you're the most knowledgeable!" Tenebris protested.

"Dude, I monitor evil! And my control over Light magic allows me to have visions! I know when it's gonna happen! If we don't do something about the Magikoopas, the planet will be doomed during the Tenth Age!"

Before Tenebris can reply, the yoshi steps in between the bickering duo.

"She does have a point, man. The Sage of Light can see things the rest of us can't," the yoshi stated, "Do you truly feel like something bad will happen, Ten?"

"Uhh, no..." Tenebris sighed, "But Pyrydor, we won't have a Quartet. That makes all three of us more vulnerable."

"Hun, Kaelan's gone; we don't have a Spirit Sage anymore. We don't have a Quartet, hence my concern for evil," Aurora retorted, "Plus, this isn't even permanent. If we find a qualified Third Guardian, we can get the Spirit Wand back."

"How?"

"We create a lock, sweetie," Aurora sarcastically voiced.

"But with what?" this time, Pyrydor questions the female.

"Our magic. We're three Sages together; we can easily lock this Wand up."

"But why don't we just give the Wand to the First or Second Guardian?"

"They cannot control the Spirit Wand because the Spirit Wand deals with transitions between physical and spiritual states. The First and Second Guardians cannot transition; only the Third Guardian can. Also, the First and Second Guardians cannot become Third Guardians, nor can a Third Guardian become a First or Second."

"Why don't you just make people less evil? Then we can find another Spirit Sage," Tenebris questioned.

"The Wand prevents me from forcing people to make the right choices. I'm supposed to unleash the knowledge of good and evil... And just knowledge in general, via my visions."

Aurora pulls her wand from her shell. Pyrydor and Tenebris exchange puzzled looks before also wielding their wands.

"Now, let's do this."

Aurora points her Wand towards the Spirit Wand and unleashes a white beam from it, which consumes the Spirit Wand and its pedestal. Pyrydor shrugs before casting a black elemental beam at it. Lastly, Tenebris casts an orange beam onto the altar for good measures, which converts the two others' beams into an orderly pillar of light, although he knows the Spirit Wand naturally outpowers him.

As the three Sages' magic surrounding the Wand transforms into a pillar of light, Aurora pulls out a drained scepter and dips it into the pillar. She touches the scepter with her Wand tip, then touches the other Sages' jeweled tips with the scepter, causing the scepter to flash. She sticks the scepter back into the pillar then pulls it out. This time, the pillar of light quivers before solidifying.

"Our magic locked the Spirit Wand, with the key to it being this scepter right here," Aurora stated.

"Okay..." Tenebris murmured, "And what are we going to do with it?"

"I put a lock on the scepter," Aurora continued, "And the Spirit Wand can only be freed with the scepter. We should be in good hands."

"But what about our powers in the scepter?" Pyrydor questioned.

"The scepter won't have power, other than to unlock the Spirit Wand. It cannot cast magic. If people don't know about the Spirit Wand, they won't hunt for it," Aurora answered, "That would mean the scepter's safe wherever."

"And that's why we must keep the Wand of the Spirit secret," Tenebris muttered, "If I'm getting this right."

"Correct. We can say it's in another realm, because technically, it is. It's just we put it there, not the Star Spirits or whichever other god."

"Good idea. We can keep it until we can complete the Quartet again."

Aurora sighed. "I don't know if we can, Tenny. I feel Ztar's influence returning ever since Kaelan died. We can't correct what an Elder God does, and Elder Gods aren't forced out by the Oath."

"Then what kept Ztar at bay?" Pyrydor questioned.

Aurora shrugged, "I assume the Quartet slowed the process. Keep in mind that Ztar never went to sleep like the others did, but she's weak to the point that the Star Spirits and us four were able to slow or stop her. We have Essence Star to thank for that."

"Well..." Tenebris sighed, "Keep the scepter, Aurora. You know when we'll need it."

"Yes," Aurora nodded, "I'll be keeping it with my oracle's Scepter of Light, so she can take care of it. Speaking of, have you guys gotten your oracles yet?"

"Not yet, but I have the four scepters within my Wand still," Pyrydor responded.

"Rosetta has the Scepter of the Cosmos," Tenebris added.

"Good," Aurora smiled, "Things will get messy going forward. We'll dismiss now, but I'll keep in contact if I sense any specific threats."

~x~

After the vision, Goombella, Kolorado and Kooper reappear in X-Naut Fortress beside the manuscript. The trio exchange glances, each bewildered about the vision's contents before Kolorado speaks up.

"So, we can confirm the existence of both the Wand of the Spirit and the Rite of Revitalization."

"That was already confirmed though," Goombella replied, "But if the manuscript's right, we have an idea of where the Wand is."

"And how to get it," Kooper continued.

"But we don't know what became of the scepter," Kolorado reminded, "It probably moved throughout the years. If Aurora had it, and Council has the Wand of Light yet still can't get to the Spirit Wand, then they probably don't have the scepter."

"We definitely need to report this to Frankly," Goombella suggested, "He might know about the scepter."

"And maybe he can see with Crump or the rest of Council about if they have the scepter," Kooper added before turning to Kolorado, "Say, you think we can get the Spirit Wand if we have the others? With Council's Wand of Light and Morton's Wand of the Cosmos, we'd just need the Elemental Wand."

"It could possibly work, which is why I'm baffled that Frankly gave us this assignment suddenly," Kolorado checks his MIDST, "Okay. Frankly's out for a few hours. We'll have a group meeting when he's back."

Goombella and Kooper both nod.

* * *

Despite wanting to ditch Jolene's summons, Lemmy decided to see her to explain his side of the madness. He pulls into the TVK Headquarters parking lot and enters the complex. He signs in with the guard before the guard escorts him down the hall and into an interviewing room. There, he sees Jolene sitting before a chair facing her, perplexed; her eyes unforgiving. Lemmy sits down, nervous over what he signed himself up to do.

"Well, well, well," Jolene stated, "What do we have here? A stock market crasher, hmm?"

Lemmy squirmed, "I just traded stocks! It's not like I purposely crashed it! Heck, it probably wasn't fully me!"

"But you seem to know when to sell," Jolene stated, "Don't you know that's considered insider trading, which is illegal?"

"What are you talking about? The market was in a bubble! Anyone with experience in economics and trading could see it!"

"Bubble, hmm?" Jolene questioned, "Tell me more about how you found this."

"Mushroom United Power had a surge in growth, yet almost no new enrollees. The same stood true for lumber companies; even my own renewable energy company," Lemmy explained, "I had an anonymous order for 900 solar panels, which also didn't get added to the CEB report. Overall, something was being messed around with, and CEB or the government never caught it."

Jolene smirks, "You are right. We are behind these strange occurrences, and from your interference, you are now required to join us."

Lemmy raises a brow, "You mean, there really is a conspiracy?"

"Yes," the mushroomer admitted, "We are living in pre-apocalyptic days, Lemmy. One day, this planet will cease to exist. Our job is to set up civilizations on another planet before that fateful days comes."

"Uhh," Lemmy's eyes widen, "Not the weirdest theory I heard-"

"This is not a theory, Lemmy. This has been determined through magic," Jolene interrupted, "Anyway, during our transition, we're setting up temporary refuge centers on Plit – usually underground or, in Peach's case, in the air."

"Why the secrecy then?"

"We want this to be a gradual transition. If we speed things up, the world economy will crash and riots will occur. People would refuse to live in our shelters during this time, resulting in their deaths."

"Makes sense," Lemmy commented, "So... I'm guessing I'm supposed to be part of this group then?"

Jolene nods as she gives Lemmy an ID, "Yes. You are now a member of the Plit Representative Headquarters of Madoso. Part 1 of your trial is officially over."

"Part 1? What?"

"I'll explain everything going forward," Jolene summons a violet warp pipe, "Jump in."

Lemmy stares at the pipe in concern, "And if I don't? Jolene, my company needs me during this financial situation-"

"You are trapped by my guards; there's no escape," Jolene interrupted, "Our people are managing your company from behind the scenes. Because we need UpNorth, it'll be okay. Now jump in; I'll explain everything on our way."

Lemmy sighs. He knew he shouldn't have trapped himself in this situation, but the only thing he can do now is follow orders.

"Fine."


	10. Ambitious Megalomania

Lemmy folds his arms on the Mushroom Tower's food court's table and rests his forehead on his forearms. He's exhausted, especially from this unexpected orientation, and he doesn't even know if he qualifies to join this society yet. The Council was... Well, nice for the most part... although Mario and Bowser weren't thrilled about his presence. Still, he could sense deep annoyances among all of them. Do they hold a grudge against him for the economy?

"Lemmy!" he sits up as he spots Larry and Roy approaching him with a basket of onion rings and an uncorked bottle of wine. The blue-haired koopaling smiles as he sits by Lemmy, "Welcome!"

"Yeah, I sure feel welcomed," Lemmy sighed as he pours the wine into a wine glass, "Is everything always this tough?"

"Let me guess. Mario and Dad?" Larry questioned before taking a bite from an onion ring.

"Yes! And everyone! I got questioned by everyone about my role in the economy, why I did what I did, and how it should be fixed! Apparently, they're even forcing me to help them fix the markets!"

Roy nods, "Was brutal, bro. But if Larry got in when he spied on them, then you should."

"How'd you crash the economy?"

Lemmy groaned at Larry's question, already exhausted about sharing his story for the fifteenth time today.

"It wasn't me, okay?" he clarified, "Anyone who knows anything about the market knows that whatever was being done up here wasn't matching up with what the markets were offering. So, I guess you have the Altruistic up here?" Lemmy pauses, but continues when Larry and Roy nod, "Whatever they do, they use supplies from the market, but it's not fully recorded. To everyone down there who aren't part of this weird Daisy-kidnapping conspiracy thing, it looks like a bubble."

"But they're still blaming you?" Larry questioned.

"Everyone always blames the rich, but we don't have as much power over the economy as people think. The main power rich people have is currency manipulation. If anything, the rich are the biggest losers. It's just our losses aren't the difference between prosperity and poverty," Lemmy sips some of the wine before continuing, "I bet these Council bureaucrats are doing insider trading all while enslaving people and pushing the apocalypse excuse, and they're pissed because I apparently crashed their little game."

"Everything with Council is fishy, Lem," Larry replied, "Which is why Roy and I are trying to get to the bottom of it. We have to act slow because we're goners if they find out. Opposition is not allowed in the Society, and Council's cult of personality can't be destroyed."

"Figured. For a so-called anarchist society, this is very... Totalitarian," Lemmy admitted, "They took away all my money too. Reparations, they call it, or some other dumb thing."

"They took everything? Did they leave anything for you in storage?" Larry asked, "They kept my computer setup in mine. Some pictures, too. And my baby home videos."

Roy groaned, "I always hated those stupid baby videos of us Dad had."

"They kept yours too?" Lemmy questioned.

"Yup. They kept those and my trophies. And my treasured, special cremated remains of Pookie..."

Larry snickers, "You were always too attached to that damn rabbit, Roy."

"He was more than a damn rabbit! More than a pet! He was a part of me! I partly died the same day as him! Should've held a funeral for me too!"

"Sheesh, calm down, Drama Queen!" Larry laughed before pulling out his magic wand, "I wouldn't trust Council with your stuff. I took my wand with me just in case."

"Same. Morton was acting all weird, so I took mine," Roy nodded before pulling two wands from his shell. One wand being his black-tipped wand and the other being a white-tipped scepter. The two koopalings' eyes widen as they stare at the latter.

"What's that wand?" Lemmy pointed to the white-tipped wand, "Literally never seen it before, and it looks cool!"

"Iunno," Roy shrugged, "I found it when I first took over Sky Land, but I kept it ever since. I don't think it's magical. No spells work with it. But it looks sick, so I kept it."

"Huh..." Larry replied, "Interesting... Maybe it was just a sign of power before the Mushroom Kings got magical wands."

Roy shrugs, "Maybe."

"Well, I wish I thought about bringing my wand and other stuff," Lemmy sighed, "I guess I know what my storage will have... But it certainly won't be a single share of UpNorth. Can you imagine: my own company being taken away from me by people who don't know anything about finances. I mean, Seriously? Free stuff? They expect the society to be based off that and be 'anarchist'?"

"The free stuff is sweet-"

"Yeah, the free stuff here is sweet, Larry, but where do I pay for it all? Which area of my life? How does it fit in with aggregate demand? Was the theory of rational expectations used before setting up the mall, the food and the Altruistic? What about when neo-Malthusianism becomes inevitable because there will eventually be too many people for this place to support?" Lemmy sighed, "It goes against economics. Specifically all forms of economics that were proven to work. Nothing is free. It's just an endless cycle of sacrifice and gain; risk and reward. It equals itself out, but that doesn't mean anything's free."

"Sheesh, when did my cheerful brother get so nihilistic?" Larry questioned.

"I'm not nihilistic; I'm just being realistic. And seeing the years of work I put into companies become nothing but mysterious numbers to these people? You'd be pissy too."

Larry shrugs, "I guess it just didn't sound like you. It sounded... Wise, almost."

"I mean, I'm the oldest of us three." Lemmy gulps most of his wine before continuing, "But if I see anything related to the economy, I'll let you guys know."

"Don't use your MIDST for these talks, either," Larry warned, "My theory: they're spying on you. MIDST is nothing but spyware they use to force you to get in line. If they find out we're plotting a challenge to them, they'll come after us."

"So, it listens to you?"

Larry nods, "That might be why we have to keep it on us at all times. I have the mic covered, and I only uncover it when someone's calling me. I got Roy to do the same, and I recommend you do that also."

"Do you think mine's listening to this?"

Larry shrugs, "I don't think the MIDST has the full functions until you're an official member. My mic wasn't enabled until I was in."

"Thanks, guys! At least I'm not alone up here," Lemmy thanked before finishing off the glass of wine. His MIDST starts buzzing, and Lemmy gives the device a puzzled expression, "They're waiting for me. Wish me luck."

"Knock 'em out, Bro!" Roy pulls out his MIDST, "Let us add ya. Room number?"

"K1224," Lemmy stated, "You?"

"K1338," Roy stated.

"And I'm K908," Larry added, "Good luck, Lem."

Lemmy trudges towards the elevators, unenthused about the orientation. Larry studies Lemmy before refocusing on his food. He pours himself a glass of wine, finishes it in one gulp, and pours himself another before stuffing three onion rings in his mouth.

"I hope Lem's doing fine. I hope he gets in," the youngest koopaling hoped, not bothering to swallow his food before speaking.

Roy nods, "He will. Too important to just throw out."

"True," Larry pushes the remaining onion rings and the wine towards Roy, "I gotta go to training. It starts in like an hour. Want the rest?"

"Still sorta hungover from yesterday and can't really stand food right now. Plus I have... Other stuff to do," Roy avoided the question.

"Fair enough. I'll be looking over the manuscripts after training. I'll let ya know if I find anything."

"Done deal."

* * *

On the Yoshi Tower's 8th floor, the Stealth Training Arena—where the Emissary League trains—bustles with hundreds of leaguers and their squad leaders. Due to the arena's ability to simulate any condition, whether it be nature-caused, war-caused or anything else, anyone who knows of the arena will say the arena's mystical, state-of-the-art properties rival that of no other location in the universe, other than the similar arena used for combat training on the Koopa Tower's 8thfloor.

Of course, the awe-inspiring arena doesn't come without regulations placed on it by Council. Council demands that the arena's only used by Mercenary, Emissary and Reparation, and even during the scrimmages, a minimum of two Council members need to be in the arena to ensure safety of both the troops and the arena.

The arena's supposed to be magic, but Larry only sees a dull, grey room surrounding him. Larry looks around at the giant arena in confusion. Where's the purported magic?

He notices the two appointed Council overseers—Morton and Yoshi—at the top of the arena, enclosed in a control room and fixated on the members below them. Yoshi pulls a large lever down, resulting in the arena's lights dimming. Not long later, a spotlight shines on the control room.

"Welcome, Emissary Team Stealth Branch!" Morton stated, "For today's training, you will be tested on your ability to steal, evade capture, and analyze potential allies or threats. We will be doing a simulation of the Madoso Mall with the following situation: due to a supply error, a misplaced item appears in every store, and they must be returned to the correct store. Your task is to steal that object from the store and return it to the correct store without getting caught. Anyone who gets caught will be out and forced to go through trainings again next week. If you're able to get two items successfully, you will not be required to attend any more trainings for the next month, while whoever grabs the most items without getting caught will be immune for the next quarter."

Larry smirks as he rubs his hands together. This will be easy.

"If there are no questions, then we can start!" Morton announced as he pushes a button, "You all have two hours. Good luck!"

Larry hears a five-second countdown broadcasting across the floor before flashing lights appear. He feels a force hoisting him before landing back on his feet; the yoshi arena now appears as the Complex Mall; despite the Yoshi Tower's limited floor space, he's able to see across the mall towards the Koopa Tower's section. How does this simulation even work?

Not wanting to waste time pondering, Larry steps into the store nearest him: Y351—a store selling Yoshi apparel. He browses through the dinosaur-themed clothes store before he spots a koopa shell-styled disco ball. Larry smirks; there's no way a koopa-themed electronic fits in a Yoshi-themed clothes store. Instead, he browses his MIDST for mall listings and scrolls through the Koopa section until he finds K344: a Koopa entertainment store. He'll try that one.

Alarms erupt throughout the arena, each combining into a single chorus. He knows that sound. Larry studies the apparel store's entrance: anti-theft detectors. Several Emissary were already eliminated because they triggered the alarms. The koopaling thinks; he must hide the item while simultaneously avoiding the detector.

A customer walks in and asks for the yoshi employee's assistance. The koopaling smirks when the employee leaves his MIDST behind. Larry grabs the MIDST, scans the disco ball's price tag and turns off the detection feature. He puts the MIDST back on the desk, smuggles the ball into his shell, and walks out the store.

Numerous Mercenary guards patrol the mall's corridors, and the koopaling remains cautious to not incriminate himself. He strolls through the hallway and walks upstairs towards the trams. He takes the counterclockwise BANDIT – DK – PIRANHA – KOOPA tram. The simulation must also speed up the travel time, as he arrives at the Koopa Tower within seconds. He descends the stairs, enters K344 and hands the disco ball to the owner.

"Hey, thanks!" the koopa store owner thanked, "I've been looking for this!"

"No worries," Larry stated, "Got any unwanted or strange items here?"

The koopa rubs his chin, "I actually do have some piranha plant fertilizer."

"You do?" the koopaling grinned, "Can I have it?"

"I don't know, It's rather expensive-"

"We don't use money here! Plus, I gave the ball back to you. All I want is that fertilizer."

The koopa sighed, "You're right. The fertilizer's not mine, anyway. You can have it."

Larry smirks as the store owner pulls the fertilizer from behind his counter, scans the barcode and hands it to Larry.

"Thanks, man!"

"Thanks for returning my disco ball," the koopa smiled.

Before the store owner changes his mind, Larry steps out of the store, lays the fertilizer on a hallway bench and scans the barcode. P379; a garden shop.

Larry takes the clockwise tram to the Piranha Plant Tower. As he boards the tram, he stares at the leadership board. Minute by minute, each Emissary member gets eliminated, some hitting that two-item mark before reaching their fate. A half-hour elapsed; Larry browses the remaining contestants. Only two remain: him and Captain Syrup. He recognizes her name from her rivalry with Wario; he may not know much about Captain Syrup, but if she's Wario's rival, her thieving skills must be over the top. Larry nods; he must be vigilant.

He leaves the tram after it pulls up to the Piranha Plant Tower, and he moves the fertilizer towards P379. The ptooie employee thanks him before showing him a yoshi egg-styled cup.

He returns the egg to a glassware shop in the Yoshi Tower, and from there transferred more items from tower to tower. By the time Larry finishes his seventh delivery, ten minutes remain, he's behind Captain Syrup by a point and only one misplaced item remains.

Larry checks his MIDST: a reported shipment error in a Muda souvenir store in S398. He rushes towards the shop, but notices another figure already in the store, smuggling a shyguy mask in her torn puffy pants. Her long maroon hair conceals the stolen mask from Larry's view as she twirls around. Her dangling gold earrings offer more of a wave to him than she did.

He growls. Of course, she came to sabotage his plans. Typical thieves.

"Ahh, Larry Koopa. I thought I'd never see you in game, let alone up here!" Captain Syrup cooed.

"Yeah? Well, looks like you stole one of my items, thief!"

"Hah!" Captain Syrup giggled, "You're a cute one! I'd stay and have a cup of tea with you, but I gotta make a delivery! See ya!"

Larry chases after the thief, but she boards the tram before Larry catches up to her. He stares helplessly at the disappearing locomotive. Within minutes, the scene fades. He reappears in the Yoshi Tower's training room side-by-side with Captain Syrup, a cheering audience of eliminated Emissary surrounding the duo. Captain Syrup smirks at him before she walks out of the room, head held high.

As the audience leaves, Morton lowers himself from the control room balcony and joins Larry on the floor.

"You did great, Larry. Second place on your first training!" Morton complimented, "But knowing you, I was expecting it. Maybe you'll get first next time."

"Yeah, thanks," Larry replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Am I free from training?"

"For a month, yeah. You didn't win the three months."

"Meh, I'll get that Syrup chick next time," Larry groaned, but a month's more than enough time to study the manuscripts, "But I'll have free time to... Explore stuff."

Morton only smirks.

* * *

7:00 approaches, and as the DK Tower's 8thfloor news studio lights flick off, Kylie grabs her purse, says her goodbyes to Jolene and rushes towards the elevator. The elevator opens; Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong occupy the elevator, the two holding hands as they stare at Kylie. Kylie smiles before entering and pushing the third floor's button, next to the lit second floor button.

"Long time no see, Kylie," Dixie grinned, "How's journalism treating ya?"

"Wonderful," Kylie replied, "Although it got me wrapped up in this... This conspiracy."

Diddy laughed, "Donkey wouldn't stop asking me how the jetpacks were made. I nagged him into confessing about this."

"And Diddy told me!" Dixie added, "Now... Out of all things possible, they made me an Altruistic-aligned security officer for the mall's DK sector, and I'm stuck with Mario! Thankfully I mainly hear from Toadette."

"Oof. Yeah, I guess I'm lucky since I'm Emissary under Morton. He was always one of the more bearable ones. Jolene too," Kylie replied.

"Same, although the monty moles observe our part of the Emissary Abductor team," Diddy said.

Dixie nods, "Just got back from shooting practice. Who knew operating a laser would be so complicated?"

"That's cool!" Kylie giggled, "Remind me not to get on your bad side now!"

Dixie winks, "Don't worry. I wouldn't do that to a friend. Hehe!"

The elevator opens to Floor 3 and Kylie steps out, MIDST in hand. She opens her contacts and creates a new entry.

"Add me! K1324!"

"D1402," Diddy replied.

"D1105 here! We need to catch up some time!" Dixie pockets her MIDST before waving, "Ta ta!"

The elevator doors close, and Kylie avoids the bustling mall and instead walks towards the escalators and to the tram. As with the mall, the tram's packed with shoppers and others leaving their work. She squeezes through the crowd and takes the counterclockwise PIRANHA – KOOPA – WARIO – SARASA tram. A few minutes later, she arrives at her well-acquainted home tower, and she disembarks the tram. She heads towards the open empty elevator and pushes for the roof garden.

She stares in awe as the elevator doors open at the garden: she's not in a lobby, but in the center of a massive grass field. Several stone trails lead to different areas of the green enclosure, while stone pits containing Darklandian flora line the pathway. A water fountain runs to the west, while a complicated aqueduct system circles the entire garden. Every now and then, a gathering of benches surround an electric fire – a worthwhile alternative to the banned open flames – and cabanas from the Floor 2 restaurants operate near the patios.

Several koopas loiter around the garden – the tower's western placement gives it the prime destination to watch the sunset – with each gathering into groups to discuss their day while enjoying the cabanas' drinks. Kylie peers at the more isolated eastern fringe of the roof and spots Roy alone at a two-seated table, surfing on his MIDST as two drinks rest on the surface.

"Isn't the sunset just beautiful?!" She commented as she approaches him.

Roy looks up, "Yeah. This place is... Pretty cool."

Kylie laughs; he never was one for using fancy complimentary words.

"Got you a drink," the koopaling nods towards a hurricane glass containing a white, translucent liquid, "Just remembered you used to like them."

"Coconut rum? With lime?! Hell yeah I still do!" Kylie exclaimed, "It's been all this time too!"

"How can I forget the most honored poison of my heart?"

"Aw, silly!" Kylie playfully pushes him, "Man, this feels like the old days. Us on the beach, talking about our future together. Our plan to run away from our families to the tropical part of Desert Land so we could elope."

Roy smirks, "Y'know, ain't too late for that. Other than the beach part."

"And the family part, for you," Kylie replied, "You have, like... What again? Five family members up here?"

"Lem's up here now. Met with him earlier. Apparently, Council's forcing him to open up about the economy, and..." Roy stumbled, "I'm... For the first time, I'm worried for him and the others."

"Huh. That's not good. I heard about the economy crash, but I'm not sure how it'll affect everyday politics down there."

"When I was King, the markets go down a percent and I get emails from everyone and their buzzy beetle crying and demanding reforms. Can't imagine what BJ had to go through with the economy collapsing. Wasn't close to the kid cus I'm 18 years older than him, but I feel for him, y'know."

A concerned expression overcomes Kylie as she sips some of her coconut rum.

"You know I need to, right?"

Roy scowls, "Do what?"

"Jolene's saying we might need to turn TVK against one of the kingdoms down there just to keep everything stable during the collapse," Kylie sighed, "I got into journalism because I wanted to find and analyze the truth, then to give it to people. Now, we do nothing but broadcast fake news just to keep the government establishment afloat. Freelance journalism is dead, and no one gets the truth anymore."

"Knew it," Roy groaned, "Council has way too much power, but I don't know how to stop it. Or if we can."

"Yeah. They're an oligarchy; we can't be voted in to change it. Only they can be voted as Chair, and they gave us the power to vote for that only as a façade towards democracy. We also can't fight back against them; all the fighters and weapon-holders are loyal to Mercenary, and everyone else's weapons were confiscated. Well, except you I guess. But still: we're just sitting ducks, powerless against our own rulers. We're serfs. Now, imagine how everyone at Plit feels: they're being ruled by a multinational government, but they don't know it."

"And those Wands... I wanna learn more about them. I need to see if I can find anything about them while I'm in Sky Land."

Kylie exhaled, "So, that's where you'll be, huh? It's just like how it was years ago: our jobs forcing us to split."

"It's Mario and Luigi, not me. I wanna stay here but there's nothing I can do without being kicked out. That's worse."

"I guess I just worry... We just met again and rekindled-"

"Come with me."

Kylie stands up and Roy wraps his arm around the back of her neck. He leads them to a secluded area of the southeast portion of Koopa Garden where four benches surround a granite obelisk about Kylie's height. On the south side of the obelisk, Roy pulls out his wand and, with a light beam, carves "RK & KK" into the stone, then draws a heart around the initials.

"It's like the desert out there, love is," Roy stares at the brutal desert's vastness, reaching endlessly towards the horizon, "Sometimes it feels empty, but it's not; it's only unknown territory. If we don't explore it, and remain only in our comfort area... We won't find the terrible dunes, but we also won't find the terrific oases. We don't progress."

Kylie giggles, "You're still the cheesy romantic I remember! At least that remained constant too."

Roy grins, "Just trying those puns journalists always use. Let's go back inside; damn freezing out here now."

"Whatever you say, Roy. Whatever you say."

* * *

After his training and a quick stop to the Magikoopa Tower's grocery store produce section, Larry enters his apartment K908 and places his groceries onto the kitchen counter. He breaks open a lettuce head and slices some onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes to make a salad bowl. He puts the other ingredients in the fridge and sits at his table, eating the salad while grumbling about that Captain Syrup chick. He admits: as much as that woman irks him, he must also show her respect for out-kooping him.

He cusps his chin with one hand, pondering over the Society and other unfolding events. As he slams his elbow on the table, his wand rolls towards the manuscripts, and Larry notices the eighth star on the Star Spirit scroll flashing. Confused, Larry pockets the wand in his shell, resulting in the star disappearing. He puts the wand back on the table; once again, the eighth star blinks.

Maybe this is another portal? Strange; he thought only his claws could trigger them.

Larry touches the wand's tip on the scroll, and the manuscript casts a large burst of light. The light surrounds him, and he feels as if he's disappearing, yet being hoisted into the air at the same time.

He knows this feeling by now: a portal sprouted, and he's entering it.

Larry regains consciousness in a violet-themed area in an outerspace-themed area. Several stars run around the scene, whether chasing other stars or going about their daily errands. While the other stars ignore his presence, a small yellow star spots Larry and makes a tangent from his original path to greet the koopaling.

"Welcome to Star Haven. You mortals know me as Geno," the star greeted, "I'm a messenger for the Star Spirits."

Larry nods; perhaps he will know about what's going on.

"Why am I here? Why was the star on the manuscript blinking?"

Geno gives Larry a puzzled expression and replies, "Perhaps the Star Spirits can help you there. I'll bring you right to them."

"Wait, where-"

Before Larry questions their location, Geno teleports the duo to Star Haven's core, where the seven Star Spirits surround a rod containing a star-shaped tip.

"Greetings, Larry," Eldstar welcomed with a gentle, yet powerful voice, "I assume you have questions about your journey?"

"Hah. That's an understatement," Larry answered, "I don't even understand half of all these events. First, I'm at home spying on my dad's fishy behaviors, then I'm on some different planet, now I'm here…"

"Yes," Klevar reaffirmed before giggling, "Magical travel. It's a cornucopia of confusion."

"You're telling me," the koopaling sighed before focusing on his reason for being here, "I have an ancient manuscript, but every time I put my wand by it, a star on it flashes. Any idea why?"

The star spirits exchange glances amongst each other before Skolar floats towards Larry.

"Let me see your manuscript and wand."

Larry pulls out the manuscript and his wand from his shell and gives them to Skolar. The star spirit studies the wand and the manuscript. Skolar gasps.

"Wait! This wand… Where did you get it?"

Larry shrugs, "Dunno. Kamek gave it to me when we first fought Mario. Why?"

"Because, Larry…" Skolar continued, "This isn't just a regular wand. This contains energy from the Celestial Wand."

Larry stares at Skolar, bewildered yet confused at the revelation. Isn't the Celestial Wand the sole wand considered more powerful than even these so-called Elder Gods?

"I'll explain. Your wand gives off energy remnants from the Wand of Light, which made up the Celestial Wand. We believe several wands rose from the Wand of Light's power. In fact, the most powerful descendant of the Wand of Light is the Light Oracle's Scepter that locked up the Wand from the rest of the world. Of course, you Koopas also have a name for the Oracle's scepter: the _Lux Aeterna_."

The _Lux Aeterna_. Larry remembers the legends behind the scepter: it came from the same wand that brought light to the world, but it contributed to making Dark Land dark. The Lux Aeterna was a scepter only the King of Dark Land controlled according to legend – albeit partially – and Bowser was never open about how or even if he uses the scepter. Either way, that doesn't explain how his wand, his siblings' wands, and the magikoopas' wands received power from either the _Lux Aeterna_ or the Wand of Light.

"At the end of the Eighth Age, seven powerful mystics broke up the Celestial Wand into four separate pieces: the Wand of Light, the Wand of the Spirit, the Wand of the Cosmos and the Wand of the Elements. The seven mystics, who found they couldn't use the Wands' powers, gave the four wands to trusted keepers, who were then called the Four Sages. It was this schism that initiated the Ninth Age, or what we call the Sage Age.

"Throughout the Ninth Age, the Four Sages were tasked to balance the Four Wands in what we call the Quartet. Spirit, Light, the Elements and the Cosmos are the four prime things the Elders want on their perfect planet, and they must be balanced. The world wasn't perfect, but everything went well throughout the Ninth Age, until the Sages died one by one without viable successors, which initiated the chaotic, power-abusing Tenth Age.

"The last Sages locked up the Wands using artefacts powered by their own wands before their disappearance in the Tenth Age, resulting in the Wands being mostly inaccessible. The Soul Scepter locked up the Wand of the Spirit, the Catalyst locked up the Wand of the Elements, the _Lux Aeterna_ locked the Wand of Light, and the Wand of the Cosmos, although buried by the sands of time, was locked by the Power Stars. The guardians of these four scepters became known as Oracles; they exhibited much of the Sages' power, although they weren't involved in carrying out the Sages' duties. While the Wands were unused since then, the four scepters, although weaker than the four Wands, were still abused during the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Ages.

"That's where your wand comes to play. When the Tenth Age started, the _Lux Aeterna_ has been entrusted to many safekeepers in the past. But what originated as benevolent holders of the _Lux Aeterna_ became corrupted during the Age, and several Darklandian nomadic tribes fought over controlling it. Hence, while the scepter itself isn't corrupted and even wasn't in use, the safekeepers responsible for its safety via the _Lux Aeterna_ were, and they used the scepter to manipulate light and to bring darkness to their kingdom. That didn't change as the _Lux Aeterna_ descended both the Rex bloodline of the Eleventh Age and the Koopa bloodline of the Twelfth Age in Dark Land.

"We noticed that the Oracle of the _Lux Aeterna_ duplicated a fragment of its power into lesser wands, possibly to keep each royal bloodline in power. This is where your wand came to play, Larry. Both you and your magikoopas cast light-orientated spells, as that's the only type your wand's been imbued to cast; they've been enchanted by the _Lux Aeterna_."

"Cool!" Larry exclaimed, "That makes everything easier! What about my manuscripts?"

"From what I found, the manuscripts are pockets of knowledge. Each of the four Wands have a specific special ability; knowledge and enlightenment are special traits unique to the Wand of Light, and Light magic in general. So, it appears that a previous Sage of Light created the manuscripts to locate at least one of the Wands, and only Light power can open such memories. That could explain why your wand works."

"Neat," Larry marveled. He always wondered how the magikoopas gained the power that they did, but honestly, that story's less appealing than the supernatural theories he brainstormed, "We need the other wands if we want to get rid of the Elder Gods. They're the Elements and the Spirit, right? Where are they?"

"There is the Wand of the Cosmos; the sage responsible for this Wand makes sure there is balance between order and chaos, not just in the Cosmos, but also on any planet. The Wand of the Elements controls the four classical elements: air, water, earth and fire. Too much of one of these is bad, hence this Sage is responsible for also balancing the four elements. Lastly, the Wand of the Spirit controls the balance between life and death. The responsible Sage can rechannel anima into a dead or nonliving object and cause it to rise to life, but the Sage can also regulate killing of creatures.

"Of the four, we only know of the locations of two of them: the Wand of Light is currently owned by the Magikoopa leadership. The other one, the Wand of the Cosmos, was kept in the Temple of Tenebris and is owned by your brother, Morton Koopa Junior. The other two have been lost in time. We cannot locate where the Wand of the Elements nor the Wand of the Spirit ended up, but the manuscripts may provide ample help."

"Wait," Larry interjected, "Why can't you find it? You're... Powerful!"

"While we know the locations of the confirmed sages, we cannot search for the wands themselves due to the Oath of Exclusion that the seven mystics put on us at the end of the Eighth Age. Long story short, the Oath prevents us from interacting with mortals or leaving Star Haven in general, and it prevents us from obtaining more power than we have. The good news is the Oath doesn't apply to mortals, which is why we entrust mortals into handling the components of the Celestial Wand, but the bad news is Ztar can still have its influence bypass the Oath," Skolar continues his explanation.

"Also, realize that you are talking to versions of us purely within the scope of the Sage of Light's power and intention. Our true existence cannot be shown to you, also due to the Oath," Klevar clarified, "And another thing: knowledge of future events come from the Wand of Light, not from us. The Wand of Light controls and regulates knowledge. Your manuscript is embraided with Light energy, which allows your visions. Therefore, I fear the Magikoopas; they have access to the knowledge of where the other Wands may be, but thankfully, the holder isn't an ascended Sage of Light yet."

"Yes. That's quite the predicament, but as Klevar said, you can use the manuscripts to help you," Skolar nodded, "Anyway. I want to get back to your wand. You see, when at least two of the Four Wands are near each other, or when an artefact sourced from a Wand is near it, the proximity gives each of them more power. Do you exhibit sudden power surges in your wand?"

Larry thinks back to the time when he conquered Grass Land; he could only shoot little O's on his doomship. But in Dark Land, he always noticed more power in his wand; it could provide electricity, a source of heat and more powerful attacks, to name a few.

"Huh... I guess it was more powerful in the castle."

"And the Wand's there!" Skolar exclaimed, "That's it, Larry! Your wand has enough of the Wand of Light's essence in it that you can find the two missing wands! Please find them! The world, and quite possibly even the universe, depends on it!"

Before Larry can react, the same strange blue light surrounds him and hoists him into the air. As quick as the process came, it ends, and Larry's sitting at his table again.

"Wow..." Larry stated as he pulls out his MIDST and calls Roy. He needs to talk to Roy; he probably knows more about the manuscripts, but Larry also figures Council monitors the MIDST's communications, and he wants to keep this confidential.

Larry stares at the caller ID. He wonders whether Roy, being semi-knowledgeable concerning ancient Desertlandian due to his closeness to Morton, already knows this information. Nonetheless, Larry can show Roy that he also knows these current happenings, and thus can be involved in any plan. Depending on how deep this conspiracy goes, he may need to get Lemmy involved also to shake up the Establishment.

Thirty seconds later, Larry hears Roy pick up.

"Sup, Larry?"

"I found some info you might want to know about," Larry stated, "We should meet up so we can avoid... You know."

"Aight. Meet at K224 at 6pm tomorrow? Got a reznor platter waitin' for me there."

"Sounds good. I should be done with my greenhouse by then."

"Peace, bro."

Roy checks the time on his MIDST: 11:08PM Complex Standard Time. He's amazed at how quick the time passed; but he supposes that time flies when he's having fun. Either way, he better be prepared for tomorrow's meet-up, and for his deployment to Sky Land.

"Wonder what Lar's thinking about," Roy eyed his manuscripts and his two wands resting on the living room coffee table. He wonders if Larry found a way to break into the manuscripts, and that's why he wanted to meet. They've sworn to secrecy about the Wands, and Larry seemed too hushed for the conversation to be about anything else.

Her entertains the idea of playing around with the manuscripts, but a voice calls out from his room.

"Roy? Are you done? Who was that?"

"Telemarketers."

"No one actually talks to telemarketers, silly! Who was it?"

Roy sighs; he doesn't want anyone else getting involved just yet. He's putting too much at stake even as things stand now.

"It was Larry. Apparently has info and it was too important to text."

"Did he say what it was? What was it?"

Roy shrugs, "We're meeting tomorrow."

"You can worry about that tomorrow. Let your mind drift and think about tonight. Are you coming?"

Roy eyes the manuscripts before turning his focus towards the door, "Just a sec."

He knows whatever's left of his familial bonds with his father and everyone, save for Larry, have been tarnished; maybe it's time to branch out from them and form new bonds. Even so – and partially concerning the Wands – Roy couldn't help but ponder how Bowser would react to his actions... All of them.

* * *

A magnificent sunrise illuminates Dark Land's skies, transforming the sooty air into a fiery display. On his east-facing balcony, Bowser Koopa Junior stands by an easel and slaps on an orange layer of paint on his canvas with his magic paintbrush. He brushes hints of red – the same shade as his tied-up hair – onto the drying paint before he switches to painting the ground dark brown.

By the time he finishes his artwork, the Sun's in full force, already threatening to bleach the new painting. He grins at his realistic work; one of his best so far, other than the massive artwork he painted within the observatory balcony of Caldera's newest skyscraper. He should get this auctioned off or give it to one of the Koopalings.

Bowser Jr's grin vanishes as he thinks about his family. Something's happening with them all, and he doesn't know what. First, Morton and Ludwig disappear, then Dad, then Larry, then Roy. Now, as he found out yesterday from the news, Lemmy fell off the face of the earth. Even more confusing: the last three disappeared within days of each other.

He misses his dad. Sure, he misses the others, but Junior can't imagine life without his father. His dad was always there for him, even during the tumultuous period when the Koopalings hated him. His dad's an anchor; Junior's not ready to let go of him. He's especially not ready to fill in his father's footsteps.

Speaking of: he hears footsteps from outside his room—dainty footsteps unlike his father's heavy stomps. His bedroom door squeaks open. Junior studies the commotion's source: a slim female koopa, her donned pink hairbow masking ear-length blonde hair. Her manicured nails match the same pink tinge of her spiked shell and her rose-gold bracelets. She sneaks in as if her younger brother didn't notice her.

"Sis?" Junior spoke.

Wendy O. Koopa sighs in relief, "I thought you were gone. I had a dream where I was the only one left."

"Nah. Still swinging," Junior sighed, "But I wanna see Papa and the others again."

"Me too..." Wendy agreed, "Are we the only ones left?"

"Maybe Iggy? I heard Lemmy disappeared, and the others are for sure gone."

Wendy shrugs before turning her focus from Junior to his painting, "Latest painting? That's totally awesome!"

"Thanks," Junior replied, "Still a WIP, but it's a good start."

Wendy nods, "Well... I gotta get back to recording my new album. I'm supposed to drop it next Tuesday!"

Junior gives her a small smile, "Just don't disappear on me."

Wendy would've laughed, if only that truthful statement wasn't haunting her family as of late. Her brothers all disappeared in thin air; no indication of where they've gone.

Without another word, the female koopaling exits her brother's domain and travels towards hers. Just as she approaches her bedroom door, se feels her phone vibrating in her shell. She grabs it and reads the Caller ID: Iggy Koopa. Wendy sighs in relief; at least Iggy's not gone... Yet.

Wendy answers the phone; only yelling, table-slamming and shrieks broadcast from Iggy's end.

"Iggy?"

The noises continue, but Iggy's voice breaks through the commotion.

"Wendy?" the koopaling cried, "Thank the Stars you're here!"

"Yeah... This sounds like a bad time to call, y'know-"

"You don't even understand," Iggy sighed, "The stock market crashed, and now our investors are demanding their money back! Thing is, we lost too much of our value from the crash!"

"Oooookay," Wendy replied, "And what can be done?"

"Maybe we- HEY! Get away from the computers! They're expensive!" Iggy shouted before returning to the phone, "Ugh, sorry. Our investors are really starting to riot now! Penny and I are doing everything to keep them at bay, but they're just plain nuts! Wendy, we need some sort of assistance from Dark Land! The economy does! Maybe bailouts! Please!"

"Well, _Brother_ ," Wendy replied with a sassier-than-normal tone, "I'm not Queen, am I?"

"Lemmy disappeared and the Executives here couldn't agree on liquidation or any bankruptcy conditions! It's chaotic here, and as a Fortune 500 company, our stability's vital to the economy! Just pretend to be Queen or something!"

Wendy groaned, "Okay, look dude. You can't call me up and expect me to _go out of my way_ to help you. I'm late enough to releasing my album as it is. Just call Junior or something."

"He doesn't answer his phone."

"Iggy..." Wendy unleashes an overdramatic sigh, "We can't leave the Kingdom in the dark."

Silence occupies the other line before Iggy stutters, "You mean..."

"Yup. Junior needs to be the King."

Iggy groaned, "But... He's only 11! You're 27!"

"Great Grandpa was 9 when he took over," Wendy replied, "Plus I have conflicts of interests involving companies or investments. You do too. We can't rule. The people know that too. That's why Ludwig and Roy were kings, and Lemmy wasn't."

Wendy hears Iggy stumbling on the other line before she hears his more conherant thoughts, "You know what? You're right. Junior will be the King, and he'll follow our demands."

"How?"

"TVK's spreading propaganda about him. Check your messages."

Wendy opens her phone's messages and taps on the video Iggy sent her. The video shows multiple graphs from the Caldera Stock Exchange, each showing the major indices crashing. It then shows clips of Bowser Jr bathing in gold coins, talking about himself and laughing at poor people. Afterwards, the video's spokesperson asks the rhetorical "Is this who you want as a leader? The government's not for you. Rise up!"

Wendy's eyes widen as she watches the ad.

"So, this is totally fake news. That's obvious," Wendy stated, "We all know how Junior's like when his name's dirtied."

"Yep. Do you really think he would let TVK win?"

"Exactly. As I was saying, dude, Junior needs to rule."

"I agree!" Iggy replied.

"But what if we're rushing into things?" Wendy questioned in concern, "I was rushing everything too much for me to really realize."

"Don't worry, Sis! I got you covered!" Iggy consoled, "I know just the way to get people sympathetic to Junior, and to go against whatever conspiracy's going on! Because the only way to overthrow the Elite is to turn the everyday person against them! Even if Dad and our siblings are part of that Elite, they'll go down too!"

Despite her uneasiness over toppling down her father and siblings, they needed to be taken down, even by Junior, if necessary.

"So, what you're saying is..." Wendy trailed off.

"Exactly, sis! Under our influence, Dark Land will have a revolution, and it'll happen under our youngest brother!"

* * *

NOTES: Larry's training scene is a tad rushed. I did intend to do that, as I wanted to provide enough context on operations in the Society while simultaneously avoiding the focus of the story being just on those events.

Also, to clear up any possible confusion: the Scepters the Star Spirits mentioned are off-shoots of the Wands (as in, they were formed directly from the power of the Wands). Just like the Wands were controlled by the Sages, the Scepters are controlled by the Oracles. The Scepters' magic isn't as strong as the Wands', but an Oracle does not need to go through the same process to access the Scepter's magic as a potential Sage does for the Wand's. I'll specifically cover this more in the second installment where it actually plays a vital role in the plot, but consider this little explanation as a means of saying: the Wands and the Scepters are not the same thing, just like the Sages and the Oracles are not the same people.

Anyway, thanks for reading!


	11. Affirmative Reminiscence

In his K908E greenhouse, Larry finishes pruning his plants and refilling tins for his mushroom spores. He studies the greenhouse with a grin, pleased with his work. He turns the greenhouse's misters on – as the Complex won't allow him to overuse water – and the water condenses onto the leaves. The plants thrive, as if they ignored the current living situations on an alien environment. Larry always loved how hardy and resistant plants are; he only hopes civilization can weather the same conditions.

On the greenhouse's other side, a piranha plant wakes up from its slumber and starts snapping at Larry. Right; he can't forget his twenty prized plants, else he might face scrutiny from Petey Piranha on taking care of the snappers.

"Alright, alright Jenny! I'll get you some food!" Larry giggled at his rambunctious plant.

The piranha plant calms down and dances as Larry approaches the K908F storage and pulls out some compost-covered flies the Piranha Plant Tower restaurants sell. He feeds the flies to Jenny and to the rest of the piranha plants, all twenty satisfied with the offering.

"Now be good, my loves," Larry commanded as he rubs Jenny's head, in which she bows her head, "I gotta meet with Uncle Roy now."

Larry walks out of the greenhouse and turns off the light, when he hears a chorus of snarls.

"Right," Larry sighs and turns on the light before staring at the piranha plants, "Sorry guys."

Exiting the greenhouse, this time not turning off the light, Larry grabs the manuscripts, his wand, his room card key and his MIDST from his dining room table and pockets them. He shuts off the lights in both his kitchen and his foyer—his constant use of energy in the greenhouse must be made up somehow—before exiting his room.

He approaches the elevators, and Larry pushes the down call button. He listens to the elevator's gears churn as he twiddles his thumbs and waits. An elevator arrives, and a group of blue-shelled koopas step out. He observes the group before he enters the elevator and pings for the second floor.

The elevator makes its way to the third floor before it opens. A tall human woman stands in the doorway, dressed in a purple pirate attire, donning long, red hair, golden skull earrings and a mischievous smile. Larry groans as he stares at the figure.

"Captain Syrup," Larry murmured, "I'll get you next time."

"Larry," the figure muttered back, "I'd love to see you try."

"I admit, you did well. Maybe next time, us two can take on the rest of Emissary!" Larry suggested, in which Captain Syrup smirks, "I commend those able to out-sneak Larry Koopa."

"Heh. Maybe, Larry. Maybe. You did great in outing me too. Commends to you too," she stated before the elevator opens, "Actually, you know what. I like the idea. Let's team up next time."

"Done deal. Add me; I'm K908."

"W1124."

Larry adds Captain Syrup to his MIDST contacts and walks towards K224. Comida Oscuros; only the best Darklandian-styled Real World Spanish food Mario and Luigi blessed the Mushroom World with. Larry enters K224 and spots Roy at a two-seater table in the corner, sipping on a glass of water. An untouched bowl of chips and salsa sit before him.

"Hey bro," Larry greeted as he approaches Roy and sits across from him.

"Sup Larry," Roy replied, "Chips are all yours."

"Ahh," Larry acknowledged as he grabs a few chips and dips them in the queso, "You're back on the diet?"

"Yeah. Gotta bulk up and detox. Gotta leave tomorrow for my duty station, and I feel like it'll be kickin' my tail."

Before the duo immerse in a conversation, a koopa troopa waitress, her MIDST in her hand, approaches the table. Despite being an older-aged koopa, her face appears to have been assaulted by multiple make-up brushes.

"Buenas noches! Bienvenido a Comida Oscuros!" the koopa announced before turning to Larry, "My name is Holly and I'll be serving you today. What do you want to drink, sir?"

"Uhh," Larry thought as he stares at the drink menu, "Let's try the summertime blueberry sangria."

"Okay," Holly smiled as she enters the order into her MIDST, "Do you know what you two wanna eat?"

"I'll take the radish gazpacho," Larry ordered.

"Reznor adobo for me," Roy followed up.

The waitress smiles and nods, "I'll be right back with your orders!"

As the waitress leaves, Larry leans back in his chair and stares at Roy.

"You think it'll really be that tough?"

"Dead ass. I have Mario too, remember that," Roy stirs his ice water with his straw.

"Oof. I forgot about him," Larry grimaced before he grabs more chips, "So, where are you going?"

"The Rainbow Castle up in Sky Land. Doing some detail thing up there for three days before I come back here or something. Guessing they wanna see my behavior or something."

"Neat," Larry nodded, "Emissary training's fine for me. Spy games and all. I was one of the only two who never got caught, the other was some Captain Syrup chick. She smoked me in items stolen though, which never happened before."

"What happened after?"

"We both got assignments," Larry replied, "So I'll also be gone tomorrow. I'm not sure where though. She'll be gone too, but I got her number."

Roy smirks, "You've been up here a few days and gotten more girls' phone numbers than you ever had. Sounds like you're having fun here."

"C'mon Roy, I've always been a womanizer. But I wouldn't exactly call it fun, though the free stuff's definitely a perk," Larry concluded.

"Yea."

"What about you?"

"Y'know, just chillin'," Roy shrugged.

Before the koopalings engross in another conversation, Holly returns with a glass and two platters of food on a serving tray. She places the tray on a table beside them and picks up the sangria.

"Here's the sangria. Sorry for the wait; we have to make it fresh," Holly apologized before handing the glass to Larry. After, she hands the soup bowl to Larry, "There's also your gazpacho."

"Thank you!" Larry said before taking a sip of the sangria.

"You're welcome!" she stated. She gives Roy a plate of shredded spiced meat with some flatbread beside it, "And here's your reznor adobo. If you need anything, just tell me!"

"Thanks," watching the waitress move away from the group, Roy asks, "Why'd you want to talk to me again?"

Larry sips a spoonful of his gazpacho before responding.

"Oh, right! Hey Roy, you got your magic wand with you?"

"Yeah," Roy nodded, "Why?"

"Because…" Larry stated before turning around in caution. Seeing no one around him, Larry pulls out the Star Spirit and Elder Gods manuscripts from his shell, "The wands affect these."

"No way? They do?" Roy questioned, intrigued.

"Look."

Larry taps the Star Spirit manuscript with his wand. Light emits from the paper before it consumes Larry and Roy. Larry looks around, while Roy's stunned at their surroundings.

"Wait!" the older koopaling exclaimed as he spots the several floating stars, "This is Star Haven!"

"Yup," Larry nodded, "And they have info on the wands."

"Really?"

Larry rips the manuscript, resulting in the two returning to their table, their food and drinks undisturbed. They look around; everyone's about their business as if no magical activity occurred.

"The Star Spirits told me our wands can track the others, because our wands come from the Koopa Scepter or something."

"The Koopa Scepter? But Dad always said that scepter was just a legend."

"It exists, apparently. Dad said somewhere deep in the Dungeon. But none of us could stomach that place. Not even Dad could."

Roy shivers at the mention of the Dungeon. Nothing set straight the attitude of the punished more than that vile setting. Meanwhile, Larry hovers his wand over the manuscript, and the eighth star blinks again.

"And look where it takes me."

Larry touches the Elder Gods manuscript; this time, the duo appears in a dark, stormy area. In the distance, they spot a wildfire, fanned by the merciless, dust-carrying dry winds. Getting too much dirt in his eyes, Larry closes them, but not before spotting a green-tipped wand amid the wildfire. In haste, the youngest koopaling rips his manuscript, transporting the duo back to their table.

"Did you ever spot a wand in that vision?" Larry questioned.

"No. Why? Was there one?"

"I spotted one in mine. It was a green-tipped wand, and the wildfire surrounded it, which was fueled by dryness, dust and wind," the youngest stated before he puts two and two together, "Is it... Is this the Wand of the Elements? It must be..."

"Problem is, no one knows where either the Elemental Wand or the Spirit Wand is," Roy reminded, "Their search on Yoshi's Island's not working."

"Yeah… But I feel like I can find it if I research these manuscripts more. And I don't need a pathetic 'Daisy got kidnapped' excuse to find it either," Larry concluded before finishing his gazpacho and taking the last gulp of his drink, "I want to explore this more."

"Ya. Thanks for telling me."

"I wanted to let you know in person just in case... Y'know, Council's spying on our calls. They won't be happy with us trying to find wands. That's Scholar's job. The moment they find us doing Scholar's work, we'll be kicked out or even executed," Larry nodded, "Keep this our little secret. Don't even trust Morton or Ludwig, even if their intentions are good."

"Right."

"But I should get ready for our duty stations. See ya in a few days!"

"Same. Peace, bro."

* * *

Morton yawns as another Council meeting begins. He just needs to survive the next twelve hours before he can return to Plit for his Emissary duties, but even that proves to be a massive feat. Ludwig sits to his left, failing to notice his younger brother's boredom, and to Morton's right is Toadette, who did notice, but is too nice to say anything about it in the first place.

"Hello, fellow Councilmen and Councilwomen," King Boo greeted, "Before we start our usual discussion on Tower statuses, I want to start off with the news we've been dreading. At the opening bell, the Caldera Stock Exchange fell by over ten percent."

The Council members gasp at the announcement, but they remain attentive towards their leader.

"This caused a shockwave throughout the global economy, worsening the already-terrible conditions," the boo added, "As you all know, we accepted Lemmy Koopa into the Society, and as a new Altruistic League member, he's helping Toadette and me stabilize the economy through our accumulated wealth. We won't fix the economy, but we can make the crash not be as debilitating, and a less-debilitating crash means less protests."

"What can we do?" Peach questioned, concern welling in her voice, "The people will riot down there!"

"We cannot let the people know who truly hold the power. It's not us: it's the people, simply because of the population size. The moment they find out it's the everyday person versus the Elite is the moment we lose," King Boo replied, "So, our current plans is to have orchestrated clashes between the governments we as Council rule, simply to keep the people united to their government under the false song of nationalism. This will prevent them from seeing the big picture. I have more on this plan, but I will discuss this later in the meeting."

"And what happens when WE lose our money, King Boo?" Wario added, "I don't trust any of you idiots with my money!"

"You gave up your wealth the moment you joined the Society, Wario. It's no longer your wealth, but ours. Everything you once owned now belongs to the Society, and we in Council are tasked with organizing it," reminded King Boo, "But the people down there don't have that. They still have the false promise of private property. Look how fearful they are about losing about... Five, maybe ten percent of their value. Without giving 100 percent of their wealth, they wouldn't handle the Society requirements, and without the Society requirements, they can't prepare for the apocalypse."

"So..." Daisy began, "What's our plan with the economy? What are we investing all the wealth in?"

"According to what Lemmy was telling us: we will artificially raise the price of Ticker M by hoarding the stocks. This will cause a smaller supply, which should raise the price. We will then have TVK state that one of the kingdoms created a fake report against the Mushroom Kingdom Exchange Commission's wishes, and the new MKEC report will have the true values. This will also be done with the other companies and corporations accused of being in bubbles."

"Which kingdom do you propose become the global guinea pig? Whom shall we accuse?" Ludwig inquired.

King Boo, through pursed lips, replied, "Dark Land."

Ludwig expresses concern. While every other kingdom's government will be trusted again, this will cause a riot against the Darklandian government. Only Junior, Wendy and Iggy remain in the royalty, and none of the three have enough experience to deal with a riot. The riots could turn into a coup, which could hurt or even kill them. He eyes Morton and Bowser: neither seem worried over the action.

"Halt just one moment, Chairman," the eldest koopaling objected, "We are planning on tossing the blame onto the three remaining Koopa royalty who are not intertwined into our society?"

"Yes. We will act as if this was a huge fraud scheme against Dark Land's government," King Boo stated, "We have to sacrifice a Land; Dark Land will have the least effect against us."

Ludwig sighed. He hated this plan, but even as a Council member, the society rules still apply to him: whatever Council says, goes.

"Well, I suppose I can lend members of my Excogitate as needed," Ludwig grumbled.

"That will be appreciated," King Boo nodded, "But relating to that, I want Lemmy more involved in our backroom deals so everything can be stabilized. That's why I propose for him to receive Tier 7 credentials and to be placed as a Committee member in the Council Committee of Economics and Altruistic Affairs."

The other Council members exchange looks before DK speaks up, "King Boo sure about this? That Committee powerful."

"We stole his companies; it's only fair we show some aspect of loyalty. He still may have power, and he has the knowledge we need. He could stabilize everything again," King Boo nodded, "But for an appointed Committee member to be approved for Tier 7 credentials, we need the support of the Chair, the Vice Chair and ten other Council members. I, as the Chair, automatically vote Yay when I called for the vote; we just need Crump and ten of you."

"But Lemmy's too new, Chairman," Mario rejected, "He hasn't settled in yet, and he could compromise Council's dealings."

"Emissary conducted a report on him when he joined though, and it came back clean," Morton retorted, "Not a sinister bone in his body. Plus, we need his skills."

"But isn't not being sinister bad for our purposes?" Bandy Andy questioned.

"Are you calling us tyrants, Bandy Andy?" Crump retaliated.

Before the conference room breaks into chaos, King Boo calls the attention back to him before stating, "Let's vote; use his orientation as the arguments for and against him. If ten of you support this, I'll give Frankly authorization to start the Tier 7 process. Keep in mind that this won't have the full Tier 8 benefits we have as Council."

The Council members all vote on their MIDSTs. A minute later, the results come back. Mario, Bowser and Wario voted Nay, while Bandy Andy abstained; everyone else was a Yay.

"Okay, by a 12 to 3 to 1 vote, I'll get Frankly to start the process," King Boo announced, "Me, Crump, Toadette and the appointed Tier 7 Committee members will focus on the economy with Lemmy. I want the rest of you to focus on your domains and your other committees. Speaking of, we will continue with our regular business by discussing the statuses of each Tower and League, then the Landlords will discuss their shelters and any concerns they may have. How are the Towers coming, Landlords?"

"We had a confrontation between two residents of mine: a goombo and a bunbun," Daisy informed, "Both have been evicted and are working the fields."

"Yes," King Boo nodded, "I remember that case. Other than that, your tower impresses me, Daisy. I've received no citations for inactivity."

"That's because I'm only at 35 percent capacity," Daisy retorted, "Everyone else is above half. I have to help Peach several times because hers is stuffed."

"True. Peach, how's your tower doing?" King Boo questioned.

"The Mushroom Tower's almost full. Last I checked, we're at 98 percent capacity, with only a few vacant rooms on Floor 12 left. Toad and Toadsworth elected to share a room just to make space for others, and Luigi moved to the Yoshi Tower following his promotion to Mercenary deputy; both their Floor 12 residences are being restyled for the next occupants. We've received no new members this week, and I issued ten citations this week."

King Boo nodded, "Keep me updated on conditions. If you're struggling for vacancies still, then we can have Daisy take extras."

"The way Morton and I originally designed the Towers, back during the days we were the Council Chairs, was to have the monarch be the person's Landlord," Ludwig spoke up, "But that vision has gone extinct now, considering koopas from the Mushroom Kingdom now live with Bowser as the Landlord. Although a good idea at the start, I don't want my Excogitate wasting resources on making one Tower larger than the other if we still have vacancies."

"Right. I don't want your Excogitate building extensions if we don't need them," King Boo agreed, "Yoshi, how's the Yoshi Tower doing?"

"Yoshi think it's good," Yoshi stated, "Yoshi issued four citations this week, no evictions. Boshi is Yoshi's new member this month. 71 percent full."

"Wario, the Wario Tower?"

"Grr, the Volts and Captain Syrup moved in," Wario groaned, "Six citations, one pending eviction, 79 percent capacity."

"Good. Lighten up and be fair to them, Wario. I don't want Council to deal with any of your wrongdoings towards them," King Boo warned, "Bowser, how's the Koopa Tower?"

"Koopa Koot's been having issues, but he's excused due to his age. Other than that, five citations, and 87 percent capacity. We have four new members: Kylie, Larry, Roy and Lemmy."

"Our warning to Wario also applies to you. Please be fair with them, especially with the high-level clearance Lemmy will receive," King Boo pointed out, "Koopa Koot cannot leave this complex due to his knowledge of these events, so we must wait until old age takes him out."

"Understood," Bowser grumbled, "But they shouldn't even be here, and if Emissary did their job, they wouldn't have brought them here."

By this time, Morton had enough.

"I'm jumping in. I'm open to criticism with Emissary and how I handle them, but don't ever discredit my people for their hard work, especially because they've done it within established Council recruitment laws. And ESPECIALLY because all those new people were direct threats to the Society with the knowledge they received," Morton scolded his father, "We have a difficult job, but we also have tools that help us choose only the best. Your four new residents passed them, easily; they didn't pass just because of my relationship to them. If you have issues, suggest fixes instead of constantly crying."

Silence fills the stadium as the Council members either look down or stare at Morton, stunned.

"Um," King Boo broke the silence, "Whether he came out as harsh or not, Morton's correct. Suggestions and criticisms to how the Leagues or the Managers handle their domains are welcomed. Outright insults aren't. As we're on the topic now, how's Emissary going, Morton?"

"As you all know, Larry joined us recently. He's getting trained, and once Scholar finishes his background check with flying colors, he'll join us as a spy on Plit. I'm taking him on a guided tour to Plit tomorrow, so don't be alarmed if you can't find him or he leaves. Captain Syrup will also aid in undercover work on Plit. We will also be adding extra 'evidence' to the Daisy Kidnapping story we're pushing on TVK, just to keep the population hooked still."

"Good to know, thank you," King Boo thanked, "Petey?"

"Petey got nothing. Only one citation for Piranha Plant Tower. 62 percent capacity."

"DK?"

"58 percent capacity; two citations. A Kremling is getting evicted. No new members," DK summarized.

"Bandy Andy?"

"65 percent capacity and four citations. With our approval of Jolene's promotion to Emissary's deputy chair, she's now in my tower. No new recruits," Bandy Andy informed.

"Kamek?"

"74 percent capacity. Our water park's back open, thanks to the hard work of Excogitate. Altruistic's also doing a great job keeping our Tower sanitized, while Reparation's handling medical illnesses well. Speaking of, I'm sure Reparation can take care of Koopa Koot, Bowser."

"Yes, we'll be able to," Kammy confirmed, "There are enough beds left in our hospice."

"That'd be good," Bowser murmured, "But I'll keep his room reserved just in case."

"Good, good. Thank you for the updates, everyone. I will process the citations and the evictions. I will like to call a meeting next Monday with the evictees, their League leaders and their Landlords," King Boo thanked before turning to the League members, "Now! We must provide updates about our shelters as they currently stand. Peach, you're up!"

"My shelter's located at Mario's Rainbow Castle in Sky Land. I chose this area because of its elevation, dry weather and no active seismic zones," the princess informed, "Capacity's estimated to be for 10,000 with self-sustaining agriculture and natural heating and cooling. All we need is to figure out the water situation. So far, Toadbert's been handling that issue, among others, very well."

"My castle there is a great place," Mario approved, "Hardly any extreme weather up there, since it's... Obviously the clouds."

"By the way, Toadbert told me that you require assistance with your electricity issues?" Ludwig stated, "I can send a few more electrical-experienced Excogitate down there."

"That'd be great," Peach smiled, "The shelter's still under renovation, and the towers need to be extended from 40 stories to 50, each hosting about 230 residents, so we still have a few more weeks before we can add on to them. I'll let you know when electricity and other utilities are needed."

"How many Mercenary do you think you need?" Mario questioned, "Just so I know who I need to train."

"Ditto with Reparation," Kammy added.

"I'm thinking about four Mercenary per residency floor, then maybe five or six in the cafeteria," Peach thought out loud, "So about 175, perhaps 200 at most. As for Reparation, we can get away with maybe 30."

"I'll start a training for security guards soon. I have some leaving tomorrow for the Castle, and I'll have them trained," Mario acknowledged, "Thank you."

Peach smiles as she turns back to King Boo. The ghost nods before focusing his eyes on Daisy.

"I'm building in Sarasaland's Easton Caves! These caves provide an excellent, dependable source of fresh spring water, which will make agriculture a breeze. Also, much of the cave's been excavated and it has its own natural levels. We are stabilizing these floors, and we estimate these can also hold up to 10,000 people. Like with Peach, I'll let you know if I need any more help from Excogitate. I'm unsure of the Mercenary and Reparation requirements, but it may be the same as Peach, considering the same capacity."

"Noted," King Boo stated, "Wario?"

"I'm building on Emerald Isle, close to Emerald City. It's a high-elevation shelter on the mountain's leeward side and it also has water. It's above ground, but each apartment there already has an underground bunker that can be used during extreme weather. The capacity's 20,000, although a few thousand more could fit. Mercenary-wise, I need about 500, while maybe 70 Reparation should be enough."

"Good plan. How are the conditions of the bunkers?" King Boo inquired.

"They get updated at the start of every decade. The last one was 2010. Two years of age won't hurt us."

"Good enough. Thank you, Wario," King Boo thanked before continuing, "Bowser?"

"Ludwig and I are helping him with using Tenebris's ancient city, which can host 25,000 people," Morton jumped in, "Other than the temple, most of it hasn't been excavated; we're only digging tunnels and supporting the sand burying the city. Water's an issue here considering the climate's usually too dry for freak storms and the ancient springs dried up, although we're planning on using Panel 2's oasis as a temporary water source. If a freak storm ever did happen though, the soil doesn't absorb well, so the underground city should be good as flooding would occur above-ground.

"Thank you. DK?" King Boo said.

"Donkey plans on using DK isles," DK stated, "Lots of food, shelter. Donkey's caves. DK isles can hold 15,000."

"Anything you need to work on, or is the shelter ready to go?" King Boo questioned.

"Donkey needs more basement levels. Kongs working on those."

"Thank you. Bandy Andy? Do you know what General Guy had in mind before he left?" King Boo inquired.

"Not sure what he had in mind, but I have a better idea, that's for sure!" Bandy Andy stated, "I plan on using the Rogueport Sewers."

"Good choice. Are you planning on any renovations there?"

"He asked for electricity, which we are working on," Ludwig answered, "Our most reliable source for that area is hydroelectric power from the moving waters down there; we're using modified turbines built by UpNorth to extract the energy. Also, as a reminder to everyone, please don't rely on nonrenewable energy; we never know if such supplies will suddenly be halted during the upcoming events."

"What if we can't get reliable renewable energy?" Daisy questioned, "All we have are volcanic vents deep in the cave. Some running water too, but nothing that can generate electricity for 10,000 people."

"The energy emitted from the volcanic vents is tremendous, and quite simple to harness. I'll assist you in that matter, Daisy. As for the general concern over energy: if your energy production does not meet your needs, then you must cut and conserve energy," Ludwig shrugged, "Give people only two or three hours of electricity a day, and warm water every three days or something. They'll be working most of the day anyway, until Excogitate develop a functional system of automatons."

"That seems like a stretch," Daisy added.

"Although I'm attempting to use Excogitate to make these areas better, in the end, these are survival shelters, not resort hotels."

"Yeah, we mainly need electricity for the lighting in the squares and for the Palace of Shadow," Bandy Andy nodded, "We're also redesigning some buildings down there to be apartments in the more run-down areas, but the Palace of Shadow's ready to host refugees. The Palace of Shadow can host 40,000. I'm using much of the area outside the Thousand Year Door for agriculture and storage, but I could fit about... Maybe 15,000 in that area?"

"I'll write you down as 50,000 total then; if you feel like you can handle 55,000, then I'll change it," King Boo stated, "Yoshi?"

"Yoshi plan on using Valley of Bowser as shelter, and Yoshi's Island Caves as agriculture. Yoshi want more food grown than people. Petey help Yoshi with that."

"How many people can the Valley of Bowser fit? How developed is the area?"

"Valley of Bowser fit 20,000. No buildings other than old castles belong to Bowser and Larry. Water and everything else good."

"Their castles are still standing?" Ludwig questioned, "I thought Mario destroyed them like he did to mine on Cookie Mountain."

"I destroyed the tower that Bowser was in, not the castle itself," Mario corrected, "Also, I went around Larry and only fought Bowser. Terrible place to put a seventh castle, you know."

"Ah. My apologies. Let me know if Excogitate are needed, Yoshi. That goes for everyone else too."

"Yoshi appreciate it."

King Boo nods, "Make sure to work together to get these Plit shelters up, as soon as possible. Ludwig's team are trying to make Madoso more habitable outside the HQ area; once that comes, we'll focus on Madoso shelters also. Kamek's assigned to get Planet X cleaned up for refugees while we also build an atmosphere there; Crump and I are assisting him in that project. I'll keep in contact with our current updates, and I expect the same from all of you."

"Okay," the landlords nodded.

"Good. Now, the Leagues."

Morton, Ludwig, Toadette, Mario and Kammy perk up.

"Toadette, make sure we have extra Altruistic in the mines and in the forests; we need metal and lumber for each shelter's construction, especially since the global markets crashed. Also, provide Altruistic to each shelter to act as janitors, shopkeepers, food distributers and the like. Have Toad and Toadsworth help you oversee that if you wish, but I want you to help fix the economy with me, Crump and Lemmy."

Toadette smiles and nods her head.

"Morton, we need to provide low-level background investigations on those who qualify for a League. That way, we don't have to abduct them here and have them possibly fail while here. Also, when the time comes, come up with a way to guide refugees to each shelter. Those in climate-prone areas sensitive to global warming will take priority. The Palace of Shadow is a great place to start immediately."

"Got it," Morton acknowledged.

"As for the rest of you, keep doing what you're doing. Provide your League members to each shelter. Find ways to make Madoso and Planet X habitable. Keep order in the bunkers. Capiche?"

"Capiche," the three other League leaders stated.

"Okay, then our Attendance Meeting will be adjourned. Let's plan for a meeting next Tuesday dealing with Plit's current state. Until then."

The Council members, save for Ludwig and Morton, get up and leave the room. When the two remain, Ludwig gives his younger brother a small smirk.

"I never thought you had it in you to yell at our father. I commend you."

"I... I'm just tired of his attitude," Morton admitted, "I'm the founder of this whole thing, but he and the others treat me like I'm the outsider. I offer him a shelter location and even help him set it up, and he still treats me like I'm unworthy."

"He still has the king mentality, and he still sees us as being under his control, when we aren't," Ludwig sighed, "Look, Morton. This Council system's the closest thing the royals and rulers of Plit have to their old lives. It's not an easy change for them, so we can expect bossiness for quite some time."

"Dad had years to change."

"Some people never change, unfortunately," Ludwig agreed, "I admire the way you defended your team, but just know that Dad maybe doesn't actually mean what he does."

"Yeah, right. He meant every word," Morton conceded as he pulls out his MIDST and messages Larry, "But I need to see Larry about his new Emissary assignment. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait," Ludwig called. Morton pauses and turns back to the eldest, "You didn't seem perturbed by the Dark Land announcement."

Morton shrugs, "We need to do it."

"But what about our siblings? They can't possibly handle a revolution!"

"As you always said: the moment we're up here is the moment we forget about our siblings," Morton reminded, "But I promise: everything will work out in the end."

"I suppose..." the eldest sighed, "Party at my apartment on Friday?"

Morton closes his eyes. It's only Monday, and several unplanned events involving Emissary may occur, but he at least has something to look forward to.

"Count me in."

* * *

Larry opens Room K908 in haste. He grabs his copies of the manuscripts and a notepad from his bedroom before sitting at his K908D dining table and laying the three manuscripts and the notepad side by side. He smirks as he pulls out his wand and touches the Star Spirit manuscript with it.

Once again, a chaotic scene involving a wildfire, dust and wind surrounds him. Amid the wildfire, the koopaling spots the wand, but he's unable to move towards it. He ponders; perhaps this is only a hint of where the Wand of the Elements can be found, and not the actual manifestation of it.

Larry rips the manuscript, returning him to the table. Larry creates a STAR SPIRITS section on the notepad and describes the scene he saw as a note. He doesn't know where the area is, but it could be in one of the many desertified mountain valleys on Plit – if the Wand even exists physically.

After, Larry touches the Elder Gods manuscript with the wand tip.

Blue lights appear and disappear, and the youngest koopaling finds himself not by a wand in a chaotic environment, but amid a bustling city. Larry looks around at his surroundings, amazed. The walled city spawls before him. Large fortress towers dot the skyline, each decked with their own watchmen. Koopa women carry baskets of laundry to a washing pool near him while their children exchange their currency for a bar of soap at a nearby shop in haste. Meanwhile, some men carry spears and bows, preparing to depart on a hunting mission while other men work the many vegetable fields within the city walls.

Larry stares at the community in awe. They work just like those at the HQ work: they provide for the society, not for themselves. They know that their best chance at survival is a healthy community. Are they truly selfless, or are those in the Twelfth Age just selfish?

The blue-haired koopaling meanders through the town, stunned over the markets each street hosts. High above him, granite aqueducts transfer water from a nearby mountain and into each building of the city; much like his spying trip through Tenebris' city, the aqueducts prove to also be a source of electricity in the town.

As he follows the aqueducts, he stumbles upon a stone palace covered in ivy and leaking out guards. Larry concludes that the majestic city's ruler must reside there. As he approaches the palace's wooden doors, a koopatrol pair stops him.

"Halt. What business do you have with the king?"

"I'm... I'm just wondering where I am."

"You're intruding; that's where. What's your name?" a koopatrol interrogated.

"Larry. Uhh, Larry Koopa."

"I can tell you're not from here. You're an outlander; I'll have the King deal with you!" the second koopatrol stated before grabbing Larry's wrists and binding them with a rope, "Come with us!"

Larry's unsure whether seeing this king would equate as a good idea, but due to him needing to rip the manuscript before he can leave the scene, he's unable to do anything about these current events.

The koopatrols escort him through the castle, and Larry couldn't help but appreciate plant pots lining both hallway walls, although most species remain unfamiliar to him. Whoever's in charge must love plants; if Larry appeals to that side of this ruler with his similar interests, perhaps he'll have a better footing in this city.

The koopatrols open the throne room door and drag Larry in. Larry gapes at the throne room; multiple plant pots also dot the room, some displaying exotic fruits Larry never saw, while two log fires burn just by the entrance. Two trees sprout from both sides of the throne, while leftover water from the aqueduct creates a waterfall by both trees. Vines cover the stone throne itself and the throne room's walls. Larry studies the figure sitting on the throne: a dark-blue yoshi-like figure occupies the nature-themed throne, donning a crown consisting of several gold-plated leaves.

"Your Highness," a koopatrol stated, "We have an intruder."

"Let me see him," the yoshi stated, in which the koopatrols obliged. Staring at the astonished Larry, the king smirks, "I sense a green thumb within you, outlander. You must love this room."

"I-I-I love everything," Larry stuttered, "It-it's great!"

The yoshi nods, then eyes his koopatrols.

"Untie the outlander. He's no threat."

The koopatrols salute the yoshi before untying Larry. Despite his limbs' freedom, the koopaling still holds them behind his back.

"Loosen up, young one," the yoshi stated, "But why are you here in the first place?"

"I came to... Uhh, seek information on the Wand of the Elements."

The yoshi gives Larry a confused stare, "Why does this concern you, outlander?"

"I had a vision, in which there was a wand in the middle of a huge fire, and it was guarded by crazy winds and dusty conditions."

"Huh..." the yoshi uttered before signaling his koopatrols, "I need a private conversation with this outlander. Guard the front, guards."

"Yes sir."

As the koopatrols leave, the yoshi sighs, "You should be careful with what you reveal around those unworthy, outlander. But what you're talking about is the same vision I had before I became a sage."

"Wait... You're the Sage of the Elements?"

"Yes. My name's Pyrydor. I'm from Yoshi's Island where I found the Wand. As a Sage, I'm now entrusted to it."

"And uhh... This sounds weird... But what time period is this?"

Pyrydor lets out a giggle before stating, "No, no, it's not weird at all. I had to go to the Sixth Age to find my wand; you should've saw their faces when I explained it!"

"Hah! I bet," Larry guffawed, seeming more comfortable in the yoshi's presence.

"Anyway, outlander; you're in the Ninth Age. I'm the founder of this city, hence the nature appeal throughout. I was the one who invented the aqueduct concept before Tenebris and Aurora copied me."

"What kingdom is this?"

"We are not part of a kingdom. Rather, we're a city-state by the name of Krico."

"Hmm... Never heard of that in the Twelfth Age."

"Unfortunate news," Pyrydor sighed, "Krico may be doomed during the Tenth Age if Aurora's prophesies are correct, and unlike Tenebris, I trust her predictions. I'll hide my Wand in an obsidian chest in the city, and I hope no one with evil intentions will find it. Thank you, outlander."

Larry gapes at the king's gratitude.

"In fact, considering you had the vision of the Wand of the Elements, I honestly think you'll be a possible heir for the Wand. That's not an endorsement of any kind; that's up to the Wand."

"Wow. Thanks, sir!" Larry thanked, "I'll try my best, but I don't know where Krico is."

"If it helps, we're south of Aurora's city and west of Tenebris'," Pyrydor offered, "I don't know what else. But good luck."

Larry thanks the yoshi before ripping the manuscript and appearing back on his dining chair. He jots down notes about the city, including the reminders 'KRICO', 'SOUTH OF AURORA & WEST OF TENEBRIS', and 'STUDY ABOUT NINTH AGE CITIES.'

Satisfied with his notes, Larry touches the Star Children manuscript.

This time, he's at the castle. His home.

He misses home; it wasn't too long ago that Daisy hoisted him up to Planet X and transported him via spaceship to the Complex. He misses his other siblings, and he misses his old life before knowing of this conspiracy. Ignorance really is bliss.

Larry walks throughout his domain, then around his siblings', only now noticing how empty the citadel was compared to the Complex. Considering Dark Land's currently not at war, troops haven't been guarding the castle in the same numbers as they did.

Or, he assumes they're not at war.

He steps outside and looks around. Everything seems to be the same here so far. Larry's curiosity grows as he spots Junior's door tower open. Walking in, he spots Junior sitting on his father's throne, eyes closed and mouth curved into a sinister smirk. Larry shivers; Junior's crown and scepter shows that, through their absence, Junior's now the Council's puppet for Dark Land.

At least he should be.

Wendy and Iggy sit on either side of Junior, each joined with Boom Boom, Pom Pom and other high-ranking minions. They read official reports ranging from the economy, to protests and war strategies.

"All of Dark Land's now united under your rule, Junior," Iggy reported, "I wonder what happens if Dad finds out."

"Don't care what he has to think. Papa doesn't care about anything. He should of came back if he did," Junior brushed the concern, "I rule now."

"That's a different demeanor than a few days ago," Wendy added, "I'm impressed."

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises," Junior grinned, "Now, get ready, everyone. Tomorrow-"

Junior halts and points a finger, seemingly in Larry's direction. The others follow the koopaling's trail and stare at Larry's vicinity. Initially stunned, Larry shakes off the shock and reaches for his manuscript before shredding it. Within seconds, he's back in his apartment, exhausted.

"That was close," Larry sighed, "But what exactly does that mean? Is Junior really planning something?"

He jots down notes under the Star Children section, although coming out more as a written plea for normalcy. Larry peers at his MIDST: it's past midnight.

"Wow. I hardly stay up this late except on spy missions," Larry stated. He brushes his teeth and makes his way towards the bed. Of course, all he wants to do is find out more information, but he should give his mind a rest for now. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

* * *

With Kastle Koopa's renovations three years ago, each Koopaling received their own tower, while both Bowser and Junior share the main castle. Everything from the ground floor to the fifth floor received much-needed renovations, from wall reinforcements to more reliable electricity and plumbing. Nothing within the castle looks aged and decayed anymore.

However, Junior notices the gross, yet unsurprising fact: with only the surface renovations done, the architects and designers neglected the main castle's dungeon system. The nearby lava pits' sulfuric smell permeates the dank, debilitated walls; from his surroundings, Junior swears he's able to hear ten thousand screams throughout his head.

He hates this place. He can understand why the Koopalings told horror stories about being sent down here for punishment back in their childhood and pre-teen days. He always thought they were melodramatic – even the less-hyperbolic Ludwig – but he now understands their point of view. Junior never experienced the punishment, as Bowser ended it shortly after Ludwig turned 18

He climbs down the stony steps and into the makeshift hell. Numerous large cells fill the area, each boasting brittle skeletons resting in eerily uncomfortable positions, their claw marks showing on the granite walls behind them. Junior shivers, but he convinces himself the tomb's iciness came only from the tomb's cold, undisturbed air.

As he walks through the dungeon, more cells appear, but the area of each cell's interior shrinks; by the time he hits the end of the hall, the cells only have standing room; skeletons litter the small area in piles. Junior cringes – only the worst offenders against the Koopa Kingdom occupied those cells under his grandfather's rule, and neither Bowser nor the Magikoopas tidied the area.

He reaches a makeshift elevator and descends to the second basement level, seeming like a hundred feet below. By now, intense heat replaces the upper floor's chilly air as fire, magma and brimstone engulf the area. There's no denying: Junior's within one of Dark Land's many hotspots.

He looks around: the charred ground, while cooled enough to be solid basalt, remains piping hot. The smooth-flowing magma surrounds him, held back only by a sturdy diamond-reinforced barrier. The barrier creates a narrow path to the other side of the magma cavern, where a white-tipped scepter pulses. An arcane forcefield shimmers above the scepter, and Junior witnesses a thin beam of magical light traveling from the scepter to the forcefield.

Is this it? The Koopa Scepter he always heard about?

Junior crosses the parted magma sea and thrusts his hand toward the scepter, but as his hand grasps the handle, a slew of visions consume him.

Millions of years pass through his mind. They come and go too quick for the koopa to pinpoint events, but he's able to pinpoint a trend: at one point, the kingdoms were united under the rule of the Star Spirits, then the rule of four mystical beings, then chaos within the world and an age of two empires before the vision ends with him approaching the wand.

He stares dazed at the scepter. What could this mean?

"The King. The King. He hath risen," Junior hears a faint chanting. He turns around; by this time, the chanting comes from everywhere within the room, and the words become unmistakable, "The King. The King. He hath risen."

By now, the koopa's spooked, "C-come out, now! I-I'll have you arrested!" he threatened, but Junior knew his shaky voice carried no weight.

As if on Junior's command, a yoshi-like spirit rises from the magma and stands tall before Junior. He's a spitting image of Yoshi, save for a large horn on his snout and little wings where Yoshi's saddle would otherwise be. Countless other spirits rise from the magma and stand behind the main figure, also fixating on Junior.

"Behold," the spirit stated, "The next King of our Empire."

"Behold!" the spirits repeated.

Junior stares at the ghosts in bewilderment. What's the meaning of this, and who are these people? Did his dad ever experience this?

"Young king," the yoshi-like spirit continued, "The name's Rex. I'm the successor to Aurora Koopa, and with her city of Lumina as its capital, I founded the Corporeus Empire of the Tenth Age."

Junior's mouth gapes, "Y-you mean... THE Emperor Rex? I didn't know you were... A yoshi thing!"

"A... Yoshi thing. How fascinating of a description," Rex scratches his chin, "No. We are rexes, the ancestors of yoshis and birdos. Yoshis and birdos sprouted from small rex groups isolated from the main pool when the Tenth Age began, leading to our differences. Smart of them, considering we're now extinct and they're not."

"Oh..."

Rex nods, "Despite being a Koopa, Aurora didn't trust any other koopas; the only one she trusted was another koopa city-ruler named Tenebris, who died around six years before her. after his death, she didn't trust anyone at the end of her life, and her personality became quite bitter at the end. She isolated herself; a truly tragic end for a bright woman. She didn't even fully trust me. She didn't allow me to become the Sage of Light after her. Something about not being able to form a Quartet. Instead, she locked her Wand with that scepter _,_ then trusted me with it. Her request for me to guard it was the only time I saw her during her final six years."

"Wow..." Junior gasped. He only saw his father maybe thrice in the past few months; he relates to Rex, "That's like my dad."

Rex nods, "Power does that to you, I suppose. I learned that through my life. Anyway, the scepter in your hand – the sign of leadership throughout this land – was entrusted to me, directly from her. I used the wand to bring knowledge and wisdom to my empire during the dark, barbaric and chaotic Tenth Age."

"The Koopa Scepter?"

"The what-now? This existed long before the Koopa Dynasty started. The scepter was originally entrusted to us Rexes from Aurora Koopa herself, not to the other members of her species, so naming it after the Koopas legitimizes the illegitimate, _"_ Rex sneered, "The real name is the _Lux Aeterna._ Within the _Lux Aeterna_ rests all of us rulers of Corporeus, defending the scepter from misuse."

Junior glances at the scepter before looking back at Rex, "Misuse? Who's misusing it?"

Rex sighs, "The Magikoopas are, as are the awakened Sages."

"Okaaaaay... And how do we stop it?"

"Easy. We'll stop them like the first time we did," Rex folds his arms, "Through you, we will bring back the Corporeus Empire, and our Empire will be focused on the power of Light, destroying the Spirit-aligned Magikoopas and the Sages allied with them. Here, I'll show you everything."

Before Junior's able to question Rex's statement, green sparkles spout from the scepter and surround Junior, lifting his soul into an unknown realm.


	12. Visionaries

Despite sunlight raining down on him, only beeps from his MIDST awakens Larry. Larry moans, stretches and sits up before focusing his groggy eyes on the received text message.

Morton: hey can i talk to u?

Larry: sure

Morton: k im outside

Within seconds, he hears a knock. He opens the door, where Morton gives him an intense stare. Despite his out-and-about attitude, Larry senses insomnia within his older brother.

"Something wrong?" Morton questioned, in which Larry sighed.

"It's nothing. I just..." Larry debates whether to tell him about his vision concerning Junior... Or any of his visions in general. But his own warning to Roy rings fresh in his mind: do not fully trust him, "You know, worry about our siblings down there."

Morton only nods at the complaint before exiting the room and takes a right, heading towards the elevators.

"Follow me."

Larry obliged; at the elevators, Morton continues down the western hallway and turns into another, where they continue until the end. Morton pauses at one of the doors at the end, and Larry reads the room number. K923.

"What are you doing?" Larry questioned, confused.

Morton didn't answer, but instead pulls out his card and scans it onto K923's pad. Morton pushes the unlocked door open; in the room, Iggy's green emblem hangs from the foyer, while Rooms K923E and F listed "Laboratory".

"Iggy's room?!" Larry gasped, in which Morton only nods. He leads Larry towards an open elevator, presses for Floor 10, and leads him to room K1000 before opening the door. Like with Iggy, an orange emblem of Bowser Jr appears, and "Art Studio" defines Room K1000E and F, "And Junior's!"

"Yes. I have a room reserved for each of us. When we started this four years ago and I was the Council Chair, I requested Ludwig to have Rooms E and F, and in Roy's case, G, be the hobbies you enjoy most. Most Landlords requested Ludwig to build specific rooms in that format also. By the way, you should see Wendy's room," Morton laughed, "In fact, close your eyes."

Confused, Larry closed his eyes before opening them again. The door to Room K1405 greets the duo.

"W-what? How'd you do that?"

"Now, here's the nightmare," Morton ignored Larry's question, "Look at this!"

Morton smirks as he opens the door. Larry starts cracking up. The room's a pink-and-purple atrocity coupled with Wendy's emblem and multiple pink pieces of furniture. Room E consists of Wendy's recording studio, while Room F has a spa and a massive make-up station.

"Whoo boy, that's an eyesore. Even Roy would hate all that pink," Larry giggled, in which Morton nods his head.

"Ludwig has great gag reflexes. I have no idea how he pulled off this room."

"Yeah... So, what about these rooms? Does that mean they're coming?" Larry questioned, hopeful.

Morton closes his eyes and sighs, "I don't know. I had an Emissary squad spy on our siblings, and... Lately, from received intel, I have a bad feeling about Junior."

"Junior?" Larry asked, "Why?"

"You know how Junior is; he wants to take everything into his own hands, and he'll make a mess out of everything. Masses of people can die if Junior throws one of his bratty fits and ruins our entire plan. He'll ruin the shelters we're building for the apocalypse, and he'll start up wars during a time when peace and cooperation are vital. Junior wants the status quo to remain: endless wars and multiple governments sabotaging each other, rather than a single planet united against Armageddon. But despite my concern, Council doesn't want to directly overthrow him. They only want the people to do that. That way, his fall from power will appear legitimate."

"Can't you just bring him up here and lock him up until everything's done on Plit?" Larry asked, "Wouldn't Junior falling also make the rest of us look bad? Us being Dark Land royalty?"

"That was my initial suggestion. Council doesn't want to. Something about him becoming more popular if he disappears. He'd appear as a victim rather than a suspect, or something like that. I trust it; they have the Wand of Light, after all. But I don't like that call either."

"Well... What about Wendy and Iggy?"

"They're not direct threats to unity and global cooperation like Junior might be. It definitely won't be 4 years like it was between Ludwig and you, although I've received word that they may be helping Junior sabotage the established peace on Plit," Morton affirmed, "But they'll be here soon. Especially because of you and Roy's doing, they may be here sooner than you think."

The statement catches Larry off guard. Did Morton figure out their plan?

"W-what do you mean?"

"Okay. Something I haven't mentioned to the others, save for Ludwig," Morton confessed, "Larry, I'm a sage. I'm not just a wand-holder as I claimed to the rest of Council. I'm an actual sage. I know what you and Roy are doing with the manuscripts. I had to do the same thing to be confirmed."

"How?!" Larry's eyes bulge, "Y-you aren't mad?"

"Nope," Morton shook his head, "But you better be careful. You're treading on dangerous ground, and you will be thrown out if you get in Council's way."

Larry's unsure whether Morton's words came as a warning or a threat to him; Morton was always more sarcastic than brutish. Nonetheless, he's too curious to decipher Morton's intentions.

"Thrown out by who?"

"The holder of the Wand of Light," Morton answered, "The Wand of Light has always been here, and it's the brainchild behind everything here. Even behind Council, because we share the same goal as the holder."

Larry raises a brow, "Who has it? Ludwig? Mario?"

"That, I won't answer," Morton shook his head, "But my job is to keep you, Ludwig, Roy and Lemmy safe, as long as you follow the Society's dreams of a peaceful, united one-world democratic government. Then, no matter what happens, I'll protect you all."

"That must be cool to be a sage: to never worry. To never die."

"We worry all the time. Also, we can still die—just not as easily, but it has its trade-offs. You don't do stuff because you want to, but because you feel inclined to. It's instinct. Plus, those who are most deserving of the power will hate every ounce of it," Morton sighed, "Think of it this way, Larry: would you give up your life just to never die?"

"Huh..." Larry nods; a tad contradictory, but he never thought about immortality, or at least immunity, in that light.

"That's what power's like," Morton continued, "That's why world rule should be done by the people and done by those representing them."

"I agree, but I don't know how I feel about everything."

"I didn't expect you to like it, but I also wanted to be open enough to have an investigator like you up here. But perhaps we should talk back at the castle. I hear people coming."

Before Larry responds, the same blue light he encountered with Daisy and the manuscripts shines around him before he appears in his chambers of Castle Koopa. Larry studies his now-empty bedroom—the Society sure loves erasing every sign of their abductees.

"We're home?"

"Ludwig has a party on Friday. You're invited, but it looks like you're on an adventure of your own. I want to know what you had visions of in those manuscripts. As you are Emissary and I'm the Emissary leader, you're safe here."

"I thought you knew?"

"I know you used the power, but I don't know what you actually saw. Having overt knowledge is something the Sage of Light does, not the Sage of the Cosmos. Each of the four Wands have a power unique to them; the main power the Cosmic Wand can do is teleportation to anywhere in the universe at speeds faster than even light, as I've done with you."

"Huh. I was wondering. That's so cool."

Morton shrugs, "As I said, being a sage isn't all fun and games. It's actually really draining without a Quartet, so I don't like doing it. Plus, I have my own struggles between following the Wand of Light and following the Wand of the Cosmos' desires. That's why you learn to hate misusers."

"Oh," Larry nodded, "When I touched the Elder Gods manuscript, I saw a great city at the end of the Ninth Age. I met a guy named Pyrydor-"

"He was the last Sage of the Elements just as the Ninth Age ended. He lived on Yoshi's Island at one time, which is why Scholar and Council believe it's still there," Morton exclaimed, "Where was the city at?"

"From that vision, I couldn't tell, but it might link to my two others. When I touched the Star Spirits one, I was taken to a dark place. The place had a massive wildfire, fueled by high winds, drought and dust. In the middle of that wildfire was a wand."

Morton nods his head, "That must be the Wand of the Elements. Wind is air, drought is the lack of water, dust is earth, and fire is... Well, fire. All four guard it, and legend says each Wand is guarded by their respective powers, and those powers can only be reined in with their respective oracle scepters. That's why I needed the help of my oracle."

"Yeah, but I don't know how else it relates. My last vision took me here."

"Here as in... The castle? Or Dark Land?"

"The castle," Larry avoided any further mentions of Junior, especially after Morton's concerns about him.

Morton ponders over Larry's visions, pacing around the room as he does. Meanwhile, Larry attempts to piece the three together.

"Maybe they relate," the youngest concluded, "Does that mean the Wand of the Elements is here, or at least in Dark Land? And maybe the city which the sage lived in was burned down? Plus, Pyrydor said he was south of Aurora, and west of Tenebris."

Morton stops in his tracks and turns towards Larry, grin implanted on his face.

"That's it! I've read in Desertlandian lore that there was a great, green city to their west that never had a drought nor a flood, but something with their leader caused the volcanoes of Southern Dark Land to erupt. After that, the city went through a major drought and it burned. West of Desert Land and Tenebris' ancient city is southern Dark Land. Larry, the Wand must be in southern Dark Land!"

"How do I survive though? Southern Dark Land's air is too toxic from the volcanoes. Wouldn't the ash bury the city too?"

"I know Ludwig invented an air purifier before that works like an oxygen tank. Check his room. Maybe get a pickaxe or a shovel in case there's ash. But, on the authority of me being Emissary leader, I command you: don't see ANY of our siblings yet," Morton suggested, "But as a sage, I can't help any further with you finding the Wand. I need to take care of some TVK stuff anyway. Good luck."

"Wait!" Larry called out as Morton walks away, "You have the power to stop all this, don't you? Why did you start this, and why aren't you stopping it?"

Morton perks up and turns back towards Larry, "It's our job as Council to root out warmongers and counterrevolutionaries."

Larry wonders; is he talking about Junior specifically? Nonetheless, that doesn't answer why Council's continuing with their power grab. Then again, neither regime under Junior nor Council sound pleasant.

"But in the end, you will see why the path we're taking will be the best for us, the population and the world," Morton seemingly answered Larry's concerned thoughts, only to his detriment, "When everything's said and done, you'll realize that hindsight is 20/20."

With that, Morton raises his wand, closes his eyes and vanishes, leaving Larry alone in his quarters.

Larry raises a brow. What did Morton mean by that statement? Either way, Larry knows what he must do. But first, he'll need to revisit his room and make sure his siblings don't get themselves involved in this mess: something Morton seemingly forgot to do.

* * *

"3... 4..." Roy groaned as he does his third set of arm curls with the 300kg dumbbells. Ever since his assignment and possible training, Roy's desire for more strength only intensified. Plus, putting extra stress on his muscles only relieves the current stress about the current happenings swarming his mind. He shouldn't care about the manuscripts, but something about this entire Madoso society thing doesn't sit right with him and the manuscripts may provide the solution, "5... Graaah."

Roy places the dumbbells back on the shelf before wiping the sweat from his forehead with a rag. Feeling the flimsiness in his arms and his wobbly legs, Roy journeys towards K1338G, takes off his gloves, stretches his arms and gets into his ice bath. The koopaling flinches as the ice water contacts his body but relaxes as the polar plunge resolves his muscles' inflammation.

He couldn't stop thinking about the manuscripts. What about them made him so curious? When did he ever care about finding out information? He should be busy training and improving his physical condition.

Roy pulls out his MIDST – unintentionally discovering its waterproof capability. He scrolls down his contact list and calls Kylie. She answers, and her hologram appears before Roy.

"Hi dude," Kylie greeted, "What's up? In an ice bath, huh?"

"Just finished my workout," Roy stated, "What you up to?"

"Doing my TVK journalism and organizing my notes for the next broadcast," Kylie said, "Great thing about the anchoring promotion Morton gave me is we anchor from the DK Tower, not from Dark Land or anything. Probably to keep us out of the public eye since we're the mouthpieces of the Society's propaganda."

"That's cool."

The two remain silent, albeit without a tinge of awkwardness, before Kylie speaks up.

"Aren't you supposed to be off to your station?"

"I leave in a few hours. Just waiting for Mario or Luigi to call me," Roy shrugged, "Stuck in Sky Land 'til Friday, but better than anywhere else."

"Well, at least you can think over everything."

"Aww, great, more thinking," Roy complained, "Being here made me think only about this whole plan thing, and I thought I was gonna get a break. And you know how much I hate thinkin'."

Kylie giggles, "Well, I'll see you this weekend then?"

"You can count on it."

Roy hangs up the call and pockets his MIDST before getting out of the ice bath. He feels looser, although the ice did make his body cold enough to start shivering. Electing to not use the sauna nor steam room this time, he instead grabs a towel and dries himself.

For the first time since he arrived here, Roy's at a loss on what to do until his summons. He wants to explore the manuscripts, but he also doesn't want to end up late through possible perilous travels. And he's in no mental state to comprehend any of its marvels. He hasn't gained enough points to use the mall – although he could always browse around down there – Or he can see what the hologram television has to offer.

He's about to set up the television when his MIDST vibrates in his shell. Roy retrieves it and reads the message from Luigi.

Luigi: meet me on the 1stfloor of yoshi

Luigi: rides ready

Roy nods. He's told to bring anything he may need for the next few days; he may as well sneak his wands and manuscripts alongside his necessities.

Roy: be down there just gimme 20

Roy traverses his apartment, picking up anything he may need for the next few days. His gym gloves, for one... And that's all he can think of. Roy's glad he's easy to pack for; he's too bald for hair products, too male for makeup, and... Well, too koopa for clothes. He should be set to leave.

As his hand contacts the doorknob, he turns around and spots his wands and manuscripts resting on the table. He didn't want the weapons leaving his apartment, but something from within tells him to take the artefacts and study them. After all, one wand's from Sky Land while the other's a descendent of the Celestial Wand, according to Larry. Perhaps they relate.

Roy shrugs. He won't have time and he won't have the brainpower to comprehend them, but he may as well try. Maybe on the way there?

He pockets the artefacts before leaving his apartment and locking it. The koopaling calls for the elevator and hits the third floor for the mall. There, he takes the escalator to the trams and boards the PIRANHA – YOSHI – BANDIT – DK tram. Roy takes the elevator again, this time calling for Floor 1.

As Roy arrives at the lobby, Luigi's immersed in a conversation with a pink yoshi at the Tower's receptionist desk. The plumber, spotting the koopaling, cuts his conversation with the yoshi short and instead approaches Roy.

"Ready to go?" Luigi questioned.

Roy nods.

"Let's get into our ship then. We have a few hours until we reach Planet X."

Luigi enters the hangar and Roy follows behind him. Like the Koopa Tower's hangar, hundreds of five-seater spaceships lie dormant yet functional. The duo walks towards the hangar's rear before they approach a five-seater bearing a logo of a ringed orange planet. A Madoso-wide five-seater spaceship.

The pumber opens the hatch and climbs the stairs into it, and the koopaling follows. The spaceship's identical to the one Morton used, save for the seats' dark pink hue rather than Morton's blue. Roy sits on one of the seats and turns on the television, and Kylie's news broadcast flips on. He grins as he stares at her, but his eyes widen as Kylie reports on the developing situation in Dark Land. The citizens, fed up with the government's secrecy, planned worker strikes whilst demanding the incarceration and even death of the Royal Family. Even more, Kylie reports the news in a cheerful attitude.

Roy sighs. Does she truly feel this way? He can't blame her, knowing the struggle his royalty put on their relationship.

He flips the channel and lands on a 90's television series that the Beanbean Police filmed, where people need to carjack a vehicle of their choice and outmaneuver the cops in that vehicle within twelve hours. If they get caught, they'll be thrown in jail, while the carjackers keep the vehicle if they succeed. Of course, the Beanbean Kingdom's always been a corrupt government—not to stereotype, but something about the Beans show they cannot establish a stable government—but the 90's were also a rather odd time for every nation and their political instabilities.

Still, Roy enjoys the reruns. It's NASCAR, monster trucks and the concept of some cheesy reality show, all smashed into one.

"Take Highway 74! Highway 74!"

"No, you doofus! Highway 74's closed, remember? We need Freeway 28!"

"Dude! The cops are behind us! They won't go on closed roads!"

"Yeah! They wouldn't be behind us if you took Freeway 28!"

"The only way you'd talk more shit is if you ate my ass!"

"I get close enough with eating your mother's every night!"

Roy rolls his eyes as the two koopa carjackers in a suited four-wheel drive continue their argument. Why take that on a paved road when they can easily traverse in off-road terrain? Police hardly reach off-road areas, unless they use a chopper.

Roy mutes the TV as the carjackers crash and subsequently get arrested by BBKP, uninterested in watching blathering idiots at the moment. He closes his eyes and was lulled into sleep before Luigi sits by him.

"The ship's in autopilot currently," the plumber announced, seeming to ignore Roy's scowl, "How do you feel about everything?"

"So far?" Roy mulled, "We Koopas don't believe in any gods... Rightful ones, anyway... So I agree with dealing with these so-called 'Elder Gods'. But everything about this feels like there's a bigger picture."

Luigi nods, "The objects around us are three dimensional, but ideas are 4D." he paused. "Everything's deeper than they appear; remember that."

"Is that how you feel about Council? Are they telling the truth? Are they tricking us? Are they just plain wrong?"

"Remember from your orientation?" Luigi answered, "Council is never wrong, even when they're wrong."

"Bullshit statement," Roy muttered under his breath, but he's vocal enough for Luigi to pick it up.

"I agree, Roy," he admitted, "But there's nothing we can do about it. I believe we're witnessing a schism within Council; we have Mario and Peach on one side, and King Boo on the other. Either that split will grow to an all-out war, or Council will get their act together, but I believe... No, I _know_ my brother won't seek power for selfish reasons. Just let Council take care of their issues, and you follow your commands."

Roy groans at Luigi's peppered compliments toward Mario. He wanted to protest more, but he also doesn't want to be put on Luigi's bad side—being on Mario's is bad enough.

An hour passes, but it felt like a week to Roy. How can he handle seven more hours? Luigi's stuck in dreamland, while Roy, no longer exhausted, twiddles his thumbs—the only activity the spaceship offers. The television's signal died and his MIDST's no longer functional—the connection to both electronics' servers must not exist on the spaceway between Madoso and Planet X. He wonders: if so, how does the spaceship fly autopilot?

He spends the time studying the spaceship in greater detail. The five chairs sprawl around the television in a half-circle fashion, and the pilot's cockpit's on his right. To his left, he notices a green VACANT sign above the handle. A bathroom.

Roy grins at the sight. With the toilet's privacy, perhaps he can dig deeper into these manuscripts. Even a speck of dust will be more exciting than this borefest.

He pulls out the manuscripts and lays them on the bathroom counter. He knows the Elder Gods scroll takes him to Tenebris' Ninth Age and the Star Spirits' scroll transports him to Star Haven, but he has yet to check the third scroll.

Pulling out his wand, Roy taps the Star Children scroll, resulting in a blinding blue light surrounding him.

~X~

His vision focuses to a starry, violet-tinged setting. Star Haven. Within the clouds before him, Roy spots two wands: a shimmering rainbow-tipped wand and a black, star-shaped wand. Roy walks up to the rainbow wand and attempts to snatch it, but the wand splits into four differing wands: a black-tipped wand, a green-tipped wand, a white-tipped wand, and a blue-tipped wand.

"Wait. That black wand looks like the wand Morton has, and the green one looks like what Larry saw," Roy pondered before remembering what Tenebris brought up, "Was this the splitting of the old Celestial Wand?"

Roy observed the floating wands before realizing: didn't the Star Spirits themselves claim to have split them up? Yet they aren't in the vision!

Reaching into his shell, he finds his wand and the other two artefacts; he still has them, even in visions.

"Maybe these manuscripts stack?"

Roy touches the wand's tip to the Star Spirits manuscript, causing the seven mystical stars to appear.

"Hmm?" Skolar murmured as he eyes Roy, "What do you seek?"

"I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's going on," Roy admitted, "What are these wands?"

"You're right," Kalmar stated, "They aren't needed anymore."

As if on cue, the wands bind back into the rainbow-tipped wand, and it exerts a force strong enough to push Roy out of the vision.

~X~

"What the?"

Roy stands by the sink, confused. Tenebris may know more about this, or what just happened. Hopeful, Roy taps on the Elder Gods scroll before a blue light immerses him.

~X~

He arrives just outside the great city, assuming to be Tenebris' kingdom during the Ninth Age. The same city he saw that started his involvement into this mess.

Roy walks up to the same craws, who this time, simply bow before letting him through. The city's front remains unchanged; large aqueducts still flow from house to house, transporting the vital liquid to each residency. Several species stroll the streets, baskets of food in hand, while kids run around and scream.

Intrigued by the events, the burly koopaling takes an alleyway leading to a golden palace, recognizing it as Tenebris' residence from the original vision that started all these events. Roy approaches the gold-plated door, guarded by two spear-wielding craw guards.

"Purpose of your visit?" a craw questioned.

"I need to see Tenebris."

"Name?"

Roy scratches his head, hoping his name won't alert either any authorities here or Council.

"Uhh... Roy Koopa."

"Koopa, you say?" the craw clarified as he and his partner open the large door, "Sorry for the hassle. You're free to enter; Sage Tenebris' throne is straight down the hall."

Roy thanks the guards before strolling down the palace, this time observing the interior. Like every other building in the city, the sandstone bricks combined with the elegant purple carpet gives the palace its deserty feel. Lit torches, each held by a sphinx sculpture, hang from the wall while electric chandeliers, undoubtedly powered from the city's aqueducts, occupy the ceiling space meters above Roy's head.

Concentrated on observing the wonders around him, Roy didn't notice his presence in the throne room until he stumbles upon a figure seated in the gold-plated sandstone throne.

Shaken up, Roy observes the figure: a bald, black-shelled, black-headed, tan-scaled koopa occupies the gold-plated sandstone throne, a black-tipped, silver-rodded wand in his right hand and a large platinum crown on his head.

"S-sorry, Your... Uhh, Majesty," Roy stated, although the apology came off awkward due to the circumstance combined with Roy's lack of needing to address others by their titles.

"And who are you?" the koopa's voice boomed as he stares at Roy.

"R-Roy Koopa," Roy shuddered; he never noticed the depth of the koopa's voice in the previous vision.

"Roy Koopa, you say. That name sounds quite familiar."

"You probably know my brother. Uhh, Morton Koopa?"

The koopa nods at the name, "Yes, yes. I'm well-familiar with Morton. So, you're his brother then?"

Roy nods.

"Sorry for the mess-up. I'm Tenebris, Sage of the Cosmos and ruler of Ourania. But you should know; I've seen you here before."

"Uhh, that-"

"No need to explain," Tenebris cut him off, "In fact, your spying may have been for the best of everyone involved."

"Nice to meet you, Your Majesty," Roy stated, still uneasy about the meeting and the formality.

"Please, just call me Tenebris, or Sage works too."

"Okay, Your Maj- Tenebris," Roy accepted, "I need help with finding out about the Celestial Wand."

Tenebris' wand flashes red as the sage sighs. Roy stares at the wand in concern, unknowing of what the powerful sage will do next.

"This is serious stuff; stuff that can be abused by anyone unworthy. I need proof of permission before I'll tell you," Tenebris stated, "I know you as Roy Koopa, and I know you as the brother of Morton. That's all I know about you. Once you have more characteristics and witnesses on your personality and your intentions, I will talk to you more."

Roy eyes the koopa, "How do I prove myself?"

"Well... What's the closest thing you have to support and positivity from people?"

Roy ponders. He has his kingship records and praise from those within Dark Land. Plus, he's good enough to be accepted into the secret society–

His acceptance document! That's it!

Roy digs into his shell and pulls out the new manuscript Morton provided him. He studies the nine towers on the document before offering it to Tenebris, "This."

"Okay, good," Tenebris points towards a lectern to his left, "Put that document on the lectern."

Roy steps towards the lectern and puts the manuscript on it. Flashing blue lights erupt throughout the room as a hologram of the sixteen Council members fill the room. Kamek's hologram grows before it starts speaking.

"I asked you, 'What are your strengths?'" Kamek stated before explaining his verdict, "You have a great set of skills, Roy. But, most importantly, you are self-confident, which is one valiant trait here in HQ. Without self-confidence and assurance in our skills, we cannot perform any work that we do. We would also be unable to learn if we lacked self-confidence, which is an extreme problem here. But, I don't sense that in you at all, Roy. You will need to be trained and accustomed to life here, as well as how to be another cog in the machinework, so to say, but you're a great fit. Hence, for your membership, I voted YES."

The audience claps. Kamek sits down and Yoshi walks to the undisclosed camera.

"Roy kind to let Yoshi eat Monty Mole. Roy showed selflessness and lack of greed by letting Yoshi also enjoy. Yoshi think valuable traits in HQ. Teaches people to take only what they need and give to those in need. Roy good fit. Yoshi voted YES."

The audience cheers at Yoshi's decision. Not long after, Peach speaks from her table.

"I asked you what your weaknesses are, and you said the lack of humility," Peach stated, "Admitting that is a humble thing, Roy. I know you have a tough shell to crack, but now I know your boastful nature is merely a tough shell you built, rather than a 'pure' core personality trait of yours. I highly respect those who are humble and whose heads aren't in the sky, hence my vote for YES."

"I asked what you do to prevent pressure and stress in your life, and honestly I liked your answer. We all deal with stress in different ways, but as long as it's productive, then it works. So, stress no more, buddy Roy, because I vote YES!" Daisy's hologram announced.

"I requested an embarrassing story. Honestly, I couldn't care less about a story, but you did the thing I was looking for: you didn't tell me one. This shows that you don't gossip or use people's events or knowledge as blackmail, and you instead use other methods for persuasion. You aren't here just to tear people down. Due to this, I voted YES," Wario deliberated.

"When Petey asked if Roy would save piranha plant, yoshi or koopa, he answered all three. Roy showed compassion for everyone. He sees the values and contributions of everyone. Petey think we need more of that in HQ. Petey voted YES."

"Donkey values rulers who want to save their people, and Roy showed that by answering Donkey's question with putting his kingdom first and wanting peace. This is Council's goal also. Donkey voted YES," DK announced.

"Roy's purpose lies hand-in-hand with our purposes here in Council. He wants to save as much of his kingdom, if not the world, as possible, which also is the goal of Council. He will be useful here. I voted YES," Bandy Andy stated.

"Roy showed a deep understanding of the rules, as well as authority. He seems genuine and serious about following the laws here. I voted YES," King Boo said.

"Roy showed an understanding of respecting classified information, and such respect qualifies him here. While I'm all for accepting him in, I represent Scholar, and I feel uncomfortable about giving ratings for ANYONE without their background investigation done on behalf of Scholar. Despite that, I want Roy in; I abstained," Crump announced.

"Hey Roy! It was a pleasure to see you!" Toadette's hologram greeted him, "I asked if you were a leader or a follower. From how you handled the other questions, I wholeheartedly agree with you describing yourself as a leader. However, please keep in mind that the best leaders also have traits of a follower within them. A great leader considers the opinions and ideas of others, especially subject matter experts, before making a final decision. A leader does more than just lead; a leader is a collector of ideas. Honestly, I can sense that ability within you, and we need more of that. I voted YES!"

"Roy… I can't shake off the fact that you will be playing a big role here soon… So I voted YES," Morton simply stated.

"Your motivation is bettering yourself. Hmm, interesting, but from our history together, I completely agree with that sentiment. Bettering yourself is a great motivational trait to have, especially here at the HQ. Life is a long learning process, but it betters us if we view it that way. I voted in the affirmative," Ludwig stated.

The blue lights and the holograms disappear. Roy retrieves his document from the wand tip before facing Tenebris.

"Hmm..." Tenebris thought, considering all the flattery Council gave him, "Okay. You're worthy to know more."

"Awesome!" Roy grins as he pulls out the three manuscripts and points to the Star Children manuscript, "I have these three manuscripts here. I try to enter this one, but I only see a wand. It's a rainbow wand, but then it splits."

"Ahh," Tenebris nodded, "That's the Celestial Wand. Long ago, it split into four."

"But I try to use the Star Spirits one while in the vision, and they unite the Wand saying that the four weren't needed anymore."

"Hmm?" Tenebris rubs his chin, confused at the explanation, "You know what, let's start from the beginning. Use the Elder Gods manuscript on that lectern."

Roy places the Elder Gods scroll. Another blue light surrounds him before he finds himself in the presence of six giant stars.

"Uhh... Hello?" Roy greeted the stars.

No response; not even a slight movement amongst the stars.

Confused, Roy taps his wand on the Star Spirits manuscript while in the vision. The seven Star Spirits appear and glance at Roy.

"Hello," Eldstar greeted, "Your purpose today?"

"Where am I?" Roy questioned.

"You're in the Eighth Age," Skolar answered, "The slumber of the Elder Gods started as this Age dawned. Life on Plit is just perfect – they're in a golden age right now – And we rule over them."

Roy nods before he pulls out the Star Children manuscript and uses his wand on it. A rainbow wand spring up, each tip gleaming with heavenly light. The Star Spirits stare at them while Roy scowls at them.

"What does this mean?" the confused koopaling questioned.

"This? This is the Celestial Wand," Misstar announced, "We use it to balance the anima of the world in the way the Elder Stars wanted."

"Oh, so they stay asleep?" Roy questioned. The seven stars nod, and Roy continues, "But why were they split?"

The star spirits exchange glances before Eldstar speaks up, "They were split? How is that possible?"

Roy stares at them, confused. Aren't they supposed to be all-knowing beings?

"Uhh, they were split in my time period," Roy replied.

"What time period?" Eldstar continued his interrogation.

"Twelfth Age."

The star spirits exchange looks before Klevar hovers towards Roy, book in hand. He opens the book and turns to a page indicating another wand. The wand's identical to the Star Rod, save for the Wand of Authority being black in color, and the stripes on the rod being black and blue rather than pink and white.

"Here is the Wand of Authority," Klevar points to the black wand, "The Wand has no power in itself – it only acts as an off or on switch for every other wand known to exist. It's independent of the Celestial Wand's power, but this wand's required to bind someone to the Celestial Wand. When someone's bound to the Celestial Wand, they can exercise the Wand's full power. The Wand of Authority can also loosen someone's control of the Celestial Wand."

Skolar nods, "The Wand of Authority's purpose is to act as a regulator against magical abuse. It _can_ be used for evil, but it cannot be eviler than not having the Wand of Authority to begin with. Having an evil-aligned Wand of Authority is the same thing as having no Wand of Authority."

"Okaaaay," Roy mused, "So where's this Wand of Authority in the Twelfth Age? We never heard of it before."

Klevar and Skolar ponders the question, while the others either exchange looks again or focus on the two brainiacs.

"That's not a good sign," Klevar admitted, "Wait. Did you say the Celestial Wand was split?"

Roy nods, "The split started the Ninth Age I think. Been split since then."

"And how did it split? Do you know?" Skolar questioned.

"I think it was some mystics. Seven of them or something."

Klevar nods, "That confirms it. The Wand of Authority was indeed split, as only that Wand has massive influence over the Celestial Wand."

"What you need to do is find who or what has each part of the Wand of Authority. When all the pieces are returned, then the Wand of Authority can reattach the Celestial Wand," Skolar added, "Or, at the very least, give each part its full power."

The other stars remain silent, themselves admitting Skolar, Klevar and Eldstar outrank them in collected knowledge. If those three don't fully understand the Wand's future, then all available information from this vision may be milked.

Roy's ejected from the vision and reappears by Tenebris's lectern. The koopa sage studies Roy and gestures him to sit down.

"Anything?" Tenebris questioned.

Roy shook his head, "The star spirit vision I saw with you were from the Ninth Age."

Tenebris nods.

"This one was the Eighth Age."

"Good thing we're in the Ninth Age," Tenebris reminded, "Did they mention anything specific though?"

"They said something about some Wand of Authority."

"Hmm..." Tenebris rubs his chin, "The Wand of Authority's a popular legend in the Ninth Age. It's said that there was a Wand resting in the heavens. It was a strange Wand with a contradictory background; it was powerless, but it was also the most powerful Wand in existence. It couldn't shoot a simple fireball, yet even the almighty Celestial Wand bowed to its demands. But one day during the Eighth Age, a wand fell from the sky and shattered into seven pieces, and on that same day, seven friends found the pieces and kept them for themselves."

"Fell from the sky?"

"Remember," Tenebris lectured, "This is only legend, not a factual story."

"Oh... What happened after?"

Tenebris clasps his hands together, "They became the Seven Mystics. The same Seven Mystics that broke apart the Celestial Wand, and the same Seven Mystics that established the tradition of Sages."

"What do the Mystics do?"

"The Seven Mystics want no immortal to control mortals; they believe only mortals should rule themselves. They didn't believe in any gods – more in the 'Gods don't deserve power' sense rather than the strict atheistic sense. That's why they overthrew the Star Spirits, and to prevent an abuse of power, they also split the Celestial Wand using the remnants of the Wand of Authority."

"Huh..." Roy pondered over the explanation before questioning, "Do the Mystics know where the Wands are?"

Tenebris shakes his head, "No. They can only reform the Celestial Wand and the Quartet. The Quartet's when the Four Sages can utilize their powers without facing backlash due to imbalance; the Seven Mystics must be the regulators of such an upgrade."

"Then how do we know the locations of Wands?"

"Simple," Tenebris responded, "When a Sage needs to hide their Wand, they create a... Sort of a 'key', in a sense, then they lock up the Wand in an area only that key can open. These keys can have as much power as the Wand itself, or it could have no power at all, but they all unlock that Sage's wand."

"And who holds the keys?"

"Typically they're scepters, and they're guarded by oracles. Oracles can have multipler functions, depending on what the Sage wants," Tenebris continued, "For example, my oracle's responsible for keeping balance between creation, maintenance and destruction throughout the universe, while I monitor those here. Pyrydor has similar beliefs of splitting power. But I know Aurora would never grant that much power to someone, and I doubt Kaelan would grant any power in general."

Roy nods, almost spacing out the explanation before he snaps back into reality. No power, he says? The koopaling digs into his shell and grabs his white-tipped scepter. The situation's no exception; the wand displays no power.

"Like this?" The koopaling offers the wand to Tenebris, who giggles at the scepter's craftsmanship.

"This is definitely a scepter Aurora would've made," Tenebris grinned, "She was always particular on how the scepters came out. Man, she's bossy over everything, and Pyrydor always kissed up to her to the point where it always drives me crazy. There's no way it can't be from her."

"But what does this mean?"

"Where did you find the scepter?"

"It was in a castle in Sky Land," Roy replied, "Uhh, dunno what it's called in the Ninth Age, but it's up there in the clouds."

Tenebris thinks over the setting before nodding, "Must be Kaelan's area. He always acted like he was too good for the rest of us, and he always wanted to hide from history unlike me, Pyrydor and Aurora, which is why you might not hear much about him. He was the only one without an established city on the surface; it was always up in the clouds. To history, his civilization almost seems mythical."

"Sounds like it."

"I think... that scepter must be the key to Kaelan's wand. And something about this makes me feel like me, Aurora and Pyrydor created it," Tenebris laughed, "Damn, Kaelan's a bastard; he couldn't even make a scepter!"

"Did he have power abuse issues?"

"Nah. He just likes being in control of every situation. He's like the male magikoopa version of Aurora. Sage meet-ups get interesting with those two around. Pyrydor's the residential suck-up while I'm the cautious one, so it's almost always me versus them," Tenebris shook his head, "Anyway. Without that scepter you have, the Wand of the Spirit will remain locked. Guard it well, Roy."

"Can I find the Wand using this?"

Tenebris shakes his head, "It only acts as a key."

"Alriiight," Roy sighed, "Thanks for the info."

"Good luck."

~X~

"Roy?" he hears a knock on the door, "Are you feeling okay? You've been locked in the bathroom for five hours now!"

Roy does a double take; did the manuscripts really take that long? Those five hours zoomed.

"Uhh, fell asleep on the john," Roy stated. Despite that being a lie, he's still a tad embarrassed to state the claim, but better than being criminally charged by Council for magical travel.

"Oh, okay," Luigi replied.

Roy pockets the wands and the manuscripts and exits the bathroom, much to the relief of Luigi. He looks out the window, where outer space transforms into the green, hazy clouds of Planet X's atmosphere. Roy only hopes the last hour of the flight's bearable.

* * *

"Huh? Where am I?"

No longer feeling gravity's tug, Junior looks around. He and Rex float in a void; only sparkling green lights surround the duo. With his eyes closed and a crooked smile, Rex clasps his palms together, appearing to meditate amid the chaos. He keeps his posture until the lights assemble, creating a setting of a kingdom in peace. Cities and civilizations surround Junior, as if plastered on the invisible walls around him, but the gravity's absence still affects him.

"This was civilization during the Eighth and Ninth Ages," Rex pointed to the cities depicting peace, prosperity and innovation, "The Star Spirits kept the peace throughout the planet during the Eighth, while the Sages, through the power of the Four Wands entrusted to them, maintained the Ninth, albeit in the cities."

"Everything was so simple, but so... tough too," Junior marveled, "I thought ancient people didn't have a lot of knowledge."

Rex nods, "We did have knowledge, although nowhere near what the Twelfth Age has. But yes, on the scale of the individual, life was quite complex, but on the large-population scale, everything was simpler during those times. Kings and emperors didn't rule anything outside their city walls. Everything outside was fair game, left for anarchists, barbarians and nomadic farmers. Unlike what history tells us, I remember the Ninth Age being quite violent in the wilderness areas; the city walls only stopped the violence from infiltrating the city-states, giving us a false sense of peace."

Junior sits up – as well as he could in a zero-gravity area, "How did empires form then? You know, ones that stretch outside cities?"

Rex sighed, "That's when the Tenth Age dawned. By the end of the Ninth Age, everyone felt safe to the point where they question the walls surrounding their cities. They didn't see danger in the world they were living in. They saw their borders as a nuisance preventing global interactions rather than a structure meant for their security. As their desire to maintain their walls decreased, the number of barbarians infiltrating their cities skyrocketed. Many cities collapsed during the Tenth Age from these barbaric invasions—typically conducted within the same cities that welcomed them in. They plundered the resources, killed anyone too 'civilized' to deal with them, among other atrocities. It was during this time that I succeeded Aurora as the ruler of Lumina.

"During this time... Not to boast, but Lumina was the strongest city on the planet during my rule. And, let me tell you... I was vehemently against having my city walls torn down. I wanted my borders expanded and more secured, but it was an unpopular choice in that society. Instead, we planned an alternative to building walls: conquest."

Junior raises a brow, "How'd that help?"

"Simple, Young King. The more land you control, the further an army needs to go within your land to reach your capital. With this strategy, barbaric armies will be severely weakened, or even destroyed, before they even spot the walls of Lumina. It's a way to bypass those who don't care about anything outside their city bubble, yet squeal in fright at the thought of their city being fortified," Rex explained, "Anyway, ever since then, we conquered much of this continent, including Tenebris's city of Ourania and Pyrydor's Krico. Our three cities became allies – Lumina with Light through the _Lux Aeterna_ , Ourania with the Cosmos via the Grand Star, and Krico with the Elements via the Catalyst, forming a Trinity within our powers – and together, we formed the Corporeus Empire under my rule. But, unlike what history may say, I didn't do it out of ruthlessness. If anything, quite the opposite: I did it for the safety of my own people, and for our way of life. My being ruthless was propaganda pushed by the Spirit-aligned Mazuno Empire in the Eleventh Age, who went against Light, Cosmos and Elements... But that empire is another topic altogether."

"Wow..." Junior stated in awe, "But what does this have to do with me?"

"You're in a similar position, Young King. Just like the Ninth Age, people in the Twelfth Age feel too comfortable giving up their sovereignty. And, just like I, as the holder of the _Lux Aeterna,_ was the only hope for the future of society as the Ninth Age transitioned into the Tenth, so are you the hope for society continuing in the Thirteenth."

Junior ponders Rex's words before he gasps, "Wait! So... The world government conspiracy..."

"It's not a conspiracy, Young King," Rex nodded, "It's true, and it's occurring even as we speak. Your dad, your brothers and the other rulers of Plit want to unite the world under one government, just as the Star Spirits did under the Eighth Age. They are not doing this for benevolent purposes; they're attempting to play god. They want to be the saviors of society and the inheritors of the Thirteenth Age, even if that means enslaving everyone... Including you, Junior."

Junior shivers; he can't imagine not being in a line of royalty, especially being deposed by his own brothers.

"They want to be the saviors?"

"Indeed. They know their abuse of the Wands will lead to the Elder Gods awakening and ushering in the apocalypse. Then, they'll simply debilitate the Elder Gods with the Wands and appear as heroes before they create a one-government dictatorship. This is what the Magikoopas want. This is what all Spirit-aligned magicians want. The followers of the Spirit are evil, Young King; even going as far as corrupting Light."

Junior's eyes bulge, "A-apocalypse?"

"That's where the next possibility of the future comes in," Rex stated, "Look at these two possibilities."

The city scenes transition into one of continued peace. Kingdoms remain separate and sovereign, and each citizen and leader have a say on what occurs within their kingdoms. Leaders aren't authoritative, but servants for their citizens, and they all were elected officials with term limits. Seven twinkling stars above the planet descend from the heavens and erect four pillars, each placed within a different quarter of Plit, and each bound together by unbreakable cords. Wars, abuse, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, volcanoes and windstorms erupt throughout the planet, but the four towers remain steadfast and the civilizations protected by the towers thrive.

Society's in a golden age. People provided for others, no poor begged on the streets, and they isolated not a single sick citizen. Everyone did everything out of love for their fellow citizens, rather than for the love of riches. Despite the simplicity, technological advances run rampant within the society. Robots plough the fields and harvest the crops, while the overseers reap the benefits. Holograms replace traditional technology screens. Even technological centers tested the capacity of 3D printing food.

He notices himself and his seven siblings standing near one of the four pillars, each discussing their lives – each possessing an aura of happiness. Junior smiles at the scene; he misses them, even if they all drive each other crazy. And all he wants is for everything to return to normalcy; he doesn't want to betray a sibling or be betrayed by one.

The first vision closes, and the second shows a world united under one government. Junior notices the construction of the same four pillars, but rather than by the stars in the four corners of the globe, they're built by slaves and serfs and they guard not the four corners of Plit, but the four corners of the government's established capital. Junior notices pleasant conditions within the capital; high-tech gadgets, happy-go-lucky lives and too much free time for everyone. Everyone dressed in regal attire and pay no mind to anything outside their designated areas.

But as the vision transitions towards the lands outside the four pillars, he notices exhausted slaves mining ores, chopping logs and crafting apparel. Each circumstance shows a slavemaster holding a whip while barking commands, and the slaves using every last ounce of life to obtain that one extra cartful of resources. Several glorified pictures of the slaves' presumed dictator rest on walls and machinery around the scene, depicting a cult of personality around the figure.

Junior's speechless when he spots the pink-capped female toad in the cult of personality, her innocent pigtails now tied up in a bun. Toadette? She was always too nice to be an authoritarian dictator; what happened to her?

The intensity of the vision didn't hit Junior until he sees an impoverished, frail koopa slave sojourning a desert. Sand infiltrates his sweat-soaked dirty red hair as he exerts his last bit of strength against the headwinds. Moments later, the koopa collapses onto the hot desert sand from overexertion, the carried water jug snagging his bandanna as he's knock unconscious.

Junior's eyes widen. That's him!

He continues watching the vision. His body lies in the desert for hours, untouched by even the ravenous wolves and hovering vultures. But out of nowhere, his slaveholder approaches in a chariot pulling a load of precious jewels. The slavemaster steps out and flogs the exhausted body while shouting insults.

"Get up, slave!" The slavemaster commanded as he whips the body. Junior flinches; even in a vision, the pain's too real for him, "I'll have Supreme Slavemaster Toadette teach you a lesson about sleeping on the job!"

Junior shivers. The vision only shows the slavemaster's posterior, and the slavemaster's Capital-sourced elegant clothes conceals his hair and his identity from the back, but even in the future, he recognizes that voice. But... It can't be. It's impossible for _him_ to be evil. It just can't happen. Aren't they all supposed to be close?

Against his wishes, the vision pans from the slavemaster's posterior to the anterior. Junior's worst assumption comes true.

The slavemaster is Lemmy.

He knew from his voice, but Junior's still shocked. No youthful energy, happiness or joy radiate from Lemmy, but only a stone-cold scowl. Lemmy's heartless – a possibility that made Junior's stomach knot. How did his cheerful, care-free, happy brother turn into such an evil, disgusting monster? Whatever aristocracy Lemmy's in, they changed him; that too makes Junior want to keel.

Several dystopian visions follow, each harrowing to Junior. Wendy and Iggy also experience slave labor within the kingdom, and his father makes up part of the aristocracy in the Capital, but he didn't spot Roy, Morton, Ludwig or Larry anywhere within the visions. Junior shivered; they've either been executed, or they're some of the supreme leaders of this mess. Junior abhors both possibilities.

Like the first vision, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, volcanoes and windstorms erupt throughout the planet. Unlike the first setting, the four pillars lack the cords; without the support from each other, they crumble to the ground. Smoke and dust from the four pillars consume the skies, concealing the seven heavenly stars from the planet's surface. Each civilization and slave camp – even the Capital – lie in ruins; not a shard of elegance remains. The natural disasters continue until the world's charred and uninhabitable.

The vision breaks, and Junior's face-to-face with Rex. The rex floats with his eyes closed and legs crossed, continuing his meditation despite Armageddon.

"So, Young King," Rex spoke in a soft voice, still maintaining his position, "You have a vital choice to make. Do you want the first vision, or the second vision?"

"You mean... The difference between those two things are because of me?" Junior gasped.

Rex nods, "The second vision happened after you gave in to the wants of the international government. You played into their plan by either not wanting to be the King of Dark Land, or you became King, but given your power and authority to your father. You became unneeded, while simultaneously knowing too much about their antics, which caused them to enslave you. Your two siblings you saw enslaved tried fighting for you, but they failed also."

Junior sighs, "So, you're saying that Papa's against me..."

"I'm afraid so, Young King. You must usurp him."

Junior's initially hurt by the revelation, but a scowl appears on his face. There's no way he'll allow himself to be betrayed, especially by his own father.

"How do I get to the first vision?!"

"Easy, Young King. You became king, and you form a world empire, even if that means destroying anyone in the way. This world empire will split apart the Bureaucracy that would otherwise lead to the second vision. Everything else... Then piece themselves together."

"Even all my siblings being good and safe?"

Rex nods, "Just follow my plan, precisely. Make sure every T is crossed and every I is dotted."

"And what about the stars? What do the stars and the pillars mean? Stars can't build pillars, or anything really."

"You'll figure out the symbolism as time nears. Anyone who has symbolism interpreted for them doesn't understand the prophesy such symbolism's a component of."

"Fiiiiine." Junior growled.

"But for now, build your empire, Young King. Under the _Lux Aeterna_ , everything will fall into place."

Junior rubs his chin in thought before smirking, "I just talked to my brother and sister about forming an empire. If the world government wants to enslave everyone, they'll have to pass me first."

"And with the guidance from Light magic, you will be successful, Young King."

"Then it's settled," Junior continues smirking, "Meet King Bowser II, the Eternal Emperor of Plit!"


	13. Rainbowed Manipulations

Larry wanders in his empty room. He was confident in Morton, but he doesn't know anymore. The good news is he's home, but that's overshadowed by the terrible news of him being executed if he's caught doing anything outside Morton's authority. The government elite making up Council's too powerful at this point, and they'll terminate him if he stands in their way. Instead, he'll need to continue with this mission, and that'll require going to Ludwig's domain.

One problem: to get to Ludwig's, Larry must go through Lemmy's.

Of course, Lemmy's no threat, as he's now part of them, but Iggy practically lives in Lemmy's castle whenever the duo aren't in Ice Land. Larry's risk of leaking classified information remains imminent, as Iggy will demand him until it leaks out – although Larry's confident in his ability to avoid suspicion. It's best he, Wendy and Junior be taken up slowly if that's the plan, rather than Larry spoil all of it at once.

To not alert Iggy, Larry must disable the security cameras and any alarms that Lemmy may have set up.

Larry opens a hidden flap in the wall where his computer once stood and pulls out an emergency laptop and its charger – even the HQ couldn't locate the stashed device. Larry opens the computer in haste before plugging it in and turning it on. Larry force skips an operating system update and logs into his hacking account.

The koopaling connects to the wireless network unique to his domain before he opens a program he coded himself. The program shows a layout of the castle, followed by known security camera locations and alarm sensors.

"Knew it. Lemmy's tower has more installed... So does Ludwig's, Morton's and Iggy's."

Larry disables Ludwig's cameras and alarms before he clicks to Lemmy's area. Before he shuts them down, he catches Iggy gathered around a security computer, reviewing recorded surveillance tapes from the past week. Larry's eyes widen; doesn't Iggy help with UpNorth in Ice Land? What's he doing in Dark Land?

Iggy finishes the videos, appearing uninterested, confused and empty-handed. The exhausted koopaling shuts the computer down before leaving Lemmy's sector. Within seconds, Larry hears a doomship taking off.

"Hmm... Iggy left somewhere. Perfect."

Larry disables Lemmy's cameras and alarms. For good measure, he disables the central plaza's also. In case his siblings become too snoopy for their own good, Larry disables his own cameras before clearing both his camera's memory and Morton's camera's memory. Satisfied with his work, Larry shuts down his computer and pockets it and the charger inside the flap.

He sojourns through Lemmy's castle, careful not to trigger any ball-related traps the fun-loving koopaling lays out for fun. He must not leave a trace in Lemmy's castle, else a more observant member of the family, most likely Iggy, will notice the fishiness. Larry's thankful for Lemmy's blue-themed castle; even Iggy won't notice any of Larry's shedding hair in that carpet.

Larry lifts the barred gate connecting Lemmy's castle to Ludwig's, passes beneath it and lowers the bars. Larry's thoughts ease as the blue-tinge walls transform into Ludwig's white theme. He's in safe territory, now he needs to find his inventions.

The youngest koopaling opens Ludwig's bedroom door and spots only a barren space; not even a bed greets the room's visitor. Not that Ludwig needed one; he stayed in his tower for maybe a week at most – long enough only to relocate his laboratory. Larry sighs before he notices a slight bulge underneath the carpet. He pulls it back, revealing a trapdoor.

'Of course. Ludwig's laboratory was hidden from his actual room,' Larry reminisced. Putting a foot on the trapdoor's ladder's rungs, he descends into the laboratory; a light sensor detects him and bathes the dark room with bright lights.

Multiple gadgets greet Larry, from interesting agriculture-related machinery to medical equipment. Ludwig manufactured most of the gadgets before the castle renovation; no doubt the eldest considered them ancient technology compared to everything he built on Madoso. Larry stares at aisle upon aisle of gizmos in awe before stumbling upon one section containing oxygen tanks, each displaying a tag with Ludwig's elegant cursive handwriting.

'Air purifier,' the tags on one of the tanks stated. Larry smiles as he grabs the purifier, puts the attached mask over both his nose and mouth, and turns it on. The tank makes a chugging sound before air shoots through the mask and into Larry's nose. The machine, although aged, still functions.

"Hmm..." Larry pondered. He should take a couple backups. He takes three extra tanks; surprisingly, none weigh more than a few pounds. He turns on each tank; the aged air's dank, but still breathable.

He climbs from the cellar and gingerly puts the rug over the trapdoor. He's satisfied with his tanks, but Larry needs to find a vehicle built to withstand the smoky conditions of Southern Dark Land.

Larry leaves Ludwig's barren room and descends his stairs until he reaches the ground floor. A few off-road vehicles, from Real-World-inspired sports utility vehicles to all-terrain vehicles, litter the room, each with an attached snorkel. Fond over a red Ludwig-designed pickup, Larry checks its snorkel: the truck has the same substances within it that Larry's tank does, which should be enough for the engine to handle. Likewise, he checks the bed. About ten gallons of spare fuel; just enough to play it safe.

The youngest koopaling pulls up Ludwig's makeshift garage door, throws the tanks into the backseat and gets into the driver's side of the pickup. As he pulls out of the castle, Larry shuts the garage, crosses the castle's moat and zooms south towards the mysterious territory.

Larry veers the vehicle onto a dirt road just past the castle, following the truck's installed compass southward. He travels the dirt road for about an hour before a metal fence, complete with a gate, blocks the road. DANGER and NO TRESPASSING signs dot the fence blocking Southern Dark Land from the inhabitable North. No sign of life anywhere lining the border; the ghastly environment chased away even the trigger-happy Darklandian border security forces from their sites.

The toxic smoke from Dark Land's uninhabited, volcano-rich southern region seeps between the chain-link fences as it surrounds the koopaling, turning the sky charcoal-black and decreasing the visible to almost nil.

He knows from being around Ludwig that the eldest always makes his vehicles military-grade as emergency back-ups to their old kidnapping plans. This truck should withstand barreling through a fence.

Larry grips the wheel as he floors the pedal. The truck's engine roars as it carries its passenger through the fence. The barrier shatters; while the truck sustained minor damages, the engine doesn't show any signs.

Before him, ruins litter the landscape; he's already in undeveloped and isolated territory.

Isolated territories that never hosted complex life for millennia. One whose mysteries remain inaccessible to anyone – until him. Darklandian geologists' research predict the volcanoes are at least a hundred thousand years old, if not older. In their scale, the monstrosities are only in their youth, but if those predictions hold true, this is truly an ancient wonder on the civilization scale.

Nerves plague him as he approaches the smoggy air. He hooks up a tank to him and he double checks the truck's recirculating air setting. The engine should also receive fresh air due to its filtering snorkel. He's as prepared as he can be; there's no turning back.

Vision obscured by the smog, Larry presses on, but the setting Sun only escalated the hazardous conditions; the previously-visible segments transitioned into a bright conundrum. Larry turns on the pickup's fog lights while slowing the vehicle to a near-creep. Despite him operating machinery, Larry pulls out his MIDST and checks his maps.

No GPS signal. No signal of any kind; the clouds are too heavy for an adequate signal. He's on his own.

Larry opens his MIDST's saved Dark Land satellite pictures; almost all were taken either during the night, leaving a huge void in place of southern Dark Land, or they were taken during Southern Dark Land's typical smoggy days, only leaving toxic clouds in the picture.

He stops the vehicle and puts it in park before scrolling through the other satellite photos, all showing the same pattern. One picture catches his eye: it was a zoomable satellite view of damage done throughout Dark Land during a once-in-a-lifetime windstorm about two years ago. He marvels at the detailed destruction present in Northern and Central Dark Land before zooming into Southern Dark Land's terrain. Several ruins lie within Southern Dark Land's middle portion; he assumes they're hidden by the unhealthy smog during ambient conditions.

Pleased with his find, Larry takes a screenshot of the map and pulls the screenshot with his Pictures app. Although his GPS fails to recognize his location, the youngest koopaling assumes he's about... Thirty to fifty kilometers into Southern Dark Land. Calibrating the map via the distance between the Castle and Caldera, Larry estimates that he has about twenty to go due southwest.

Larry throws the truck into drive and maintains a constant speed; speeds above 30 kilometers an hour cause the truck's engine to chug due to its overconsumption of oxygen and its resulting incomplete combustion, even with an attached filtration snorkel. He learned the fact the tough way, but the vehicle never stalled.

Despite the recirculating air option ticked on, Larry catches a whiff of smoke; the pickup has a leak somewhere, and he must use the air filter now. The youngest koopaling flips the tank on and breathes in the safe, albeit stale air.

Even with lowered speed, the truck continues chugging. The snorkel's unable to keep up with the machine's desperation for a fresh air source. As Larry makes out a shape of a pillar, about forty kilometers within Southern Dark Land, the truck's engine gives out, shutting the vehicle down.

"Great," Larry moaned, his voice amplified due to the mask's effects. He'll have to go the rest of the way alone, although he's already near some ruins.

Larry puts on safety goggles, steps out the car and observes the pillar he spotted. It's made of granite, just like the aqueducts in his vision.

This might be the city.

Larry explores row after row of ruins, eventually coming to a drained pool. From the shape of it combined with the shack nearby, this must be the city's laundry center – only rocks displace the women and children.

This _must_ be the city.

A harrowed shiver courses throughout the youngest; spotting the city in its current conditions makes him uneasy, especially considering how magnificent this place was during the Ninth Age. All the plant life, all the people, all the livestock, all the history... Gone.

Attempting to shake the feeling off, Larry continues exploring the fallen stone buildings and collapsed aqueducts, finding nothing interesting in any structure. He continues searching the cryptic ruins until he approaches the ruins of a large building.

He stares at the decayed walls in shock; from the leaf carvings remaining of the walls, this must be Pyrydor's old palace.

In haste, Larry climbs over the palace ruins. He ns. He notices the same plant pots Pyrydor had, but now they only contain dry soil, volcanic ash and plant imprints. He identifies scorch marks on some collapsed stone walls; this must be part of the throne room which Pyrydor had the bonfires running. How'd this survive through hundreds of thousands of years' worth of weather patterns?

Larry continues searching the ruins before his heart sinks at the next find: an obsidian chest, located beneath one of the crumpled throne room walls. Larry clears the debris around the chest until nothing rests on top of it. He cracks it open, expecting it to be locked or jammed. He's surprised when the lid flings open with little effort.

Larry's eyes bulge at the sight. A green-tipped wand rests in the chest.

The Wand of the Elements.

The same wand Pyrydor owned. The same wand that started the Daisy conspiracy. The same wand that Mushroom World Bureaucracy wanted to shut the entire world down and set up another society, just to find.

And now, it's his.

And he didn't need to do anything the sixteen Council members did just to find it.

His MIDST still indicates no service. Thank the Stars it wasn't, as he almost fired off excitatory texts to Roy and even Morton – bad idea for something this desired. Even as a well-versed spy, finding the Wand, whose vitality's central to everything the Society was built on, must be bragged upon in some degree.

Light shimmers around it – Larry's unsure whether the Wand itself glows or it refracts the surrounding light. The wand's tip pulsates as ash falls on it and seemingly disappears.

Thoughts still cascading through his mind, he reaches for the Wand of the Elements and focuses on its power. The setting's uneasiness still builds within him, although he's unsure of what to do about it. Rather, he focuses on other aspects of the Wand. Problem is, he's unsure of what capabilities the Wand has. He didn't know what the Wand was used for – only that it existed.

Larry decides to test the waters by practicing what Morton did: casting spells by imagination. The koopaling pictures his apartment back at the HQ. He pictures feeding his piranha plants, who are more than likely pissed at him for skipping their mealtime. He pictures his comfortable bed, in which he finds the need for. Lastly, he pictures breathing fresh air rather than recycled air through a still-untested machine.

But as much as he focuses on them, he remains in Southern Dark Land.

Larry growls; how does this magic work? How did Morton do this? Is this wand just a fake? Just a ruse to cover Council's plans from even the lower-ranking members of the Society?

Through his irritation, Larry fails to realize that during his attempts at exercising the Wand's power, his oxygen mask slipped off.

Within Sky Land, a mystical castle and its four towers sprawl. Clouds cover its white bricks, while the castle's red steeple stands superior to everything within its vicinity. Roy always enjoyed the place during the Koopa invasions; from the rainbows to the lush clouds, the scene's paradisiacal and a sanctuary from daily stress. The air, though thin, thickens the fortitude in even the least enthusiastic downer. No doubt many refugees will love this empowering area especially compared to prophesied events on the surface.

He and Luigi exit the Planet X portal chamber, placed in a secured shed outside the castle's entrance. Roy breathes in the crisp air – still the typical smell of thunderstorms he cherishes. Being here, he feels as if the upcoming strife's little more than hysteria. Nonetheless, he cannot afford to be carried away from Mercenary's mission's plans.

On the castle's front steps, Toadbert leans on the castle's wall. He adjusts his glasses and, as Luigi and Roy approach him, snaps into attention.

"Hello, you two!" Toadbert greeted, "Welcome to the hideout of Councilwoman Peach Toadstool!"

Toadbert throws the door open and the duo stare wide-eyed at the interior. The foyer's fit more for a royal's palace than a refuge, although they never expected less from Peach's regal tastes. In the center, a large marble fountain spouts water a few feet in the air, while on either side, curved staircases lead to an opened second floor. Eight massive symmetrically placed columns support the two floors, while a giant jeweled chandelier hovers above the fountain. Decorated marble dons the floor, and a frilly gold designer wallpaper plasters the walls. Typical Peach, minus the pink.

"Holy..." Roy gasped – the castle's interior anyways needed a renovation, but he never anticipated how luxurious the castle could be. It feels richer and more impressive than even the HQ, although the HQ focuses on technological advances rather than wealth.

"Yeah, we just finished upgrading this place. Insulation's done, but we still need water pipes and electricity," Toadbert breathes in, "We wanted to keep the original exterior architecture, but the inside wasn't... Quite sunshine and rainbows. Man, it was a disaster, by boogity!"

Luigi nods, "Looks nice, Toadbert. Altruistic did a great job."

"It turned out much better than I thought," Toadbert agreed, "But lemme show you around!"

Toadbert dashes towards the double doors and opens them, exposing an elegant dining area. Numerous gold-plated mahogany tables scatter across the floor, velvet oak chairs accompanying each table. At least a dozen takeout-styled restaurants dot the walls around the room, each barred and displaying no menu items.

"Here's our food court. We're waiting for Altruistic to open up food shops here, but when they're here, they'll be using the food we grow on the floors above us. The greenhouses will be from the second floor to the fourth floor."

"Did Peach want this to be a resort or something?" Luigi mused.

"Oh, you have no idea, by boogity!" Toadbert held back one of his rare laughs, "We had to go against her wishes of elegant residencies in the name of efficiency and residency counts! Upstairs we still have hostel-styled lounging; eight per room, and shared bathrooms. But we tried to make them as nice as possible. Speaking of, I'll show you guys your rooms for when you're on Mercenary duty."

Toadbert guides them around the corner adjacent to the foyer, where three elevators await them. The mushroomer pushes the UP button, and the elevator opens seconds later. He calls for 7F; as the elevator lifts up, Toadbert continues explaining the castle's layout.

"As you probably figured out, we have the castle and we have four towers surrounding it," he started, "Floor 7 in all buildings are where the residencies start. Below that, we have Floors 2 through 4 reserved for food growth in all buildings, Floor 5 for food storage in all buildings, and Floor 6 in all castles that act as a hospital and pharmacy."

The elevator opens and the trio step out. Much like the first floor, the hallways remain luxurious, with a red carpet lining the floorspace's midst. A few dozen doors, each lockable with keys, line the wallpapered walls. Toadbert continues his explanation as the duo continue studying their surroundings.

"Here's Floor 7, reserved for Mercenary and Reparation. Floors 8 and 9 hold the Altruistic, and Floor 10 hold our Emissary and Excogitate leagues; those four floors are a tad better than the above floors and the four towers' floors," he shows them the hallways, "For each League, the rooms are divided by shifts. The first shift lasts from 6AM to 2PM, the second from 2PM to 10PM, and the third from 10PM to 6AM – these times are set shifts for all League employees for every location, agreed on by every League leader. Because of these different hours, we didn't want different shifts to lounge together."

Roy nods, "Where's my room?"

"You'll be on the first shift," Luigi stated, "Consider yourself lucky; our initiates typically get put on the third shift first, and the veterans get the second."

"Okay..." Roy stated.

Toadbert continues, "First shift rooms are these rooms over here, A700 to A708. A709 to A718 are the second shift, and A719 to A725 are the third. Shifts are four days a week; whichever room you're in will determine which days you get off."

Roy steps into A703. Unlike the castle's downstairs, the interior contains a level of life comparable to a morgue. Four bunk beds line the generic walls, alongside their accompanying storage cabinets – all avoiding the recent renovation. The bedspread add a luxurious spice contrasting the furniture; they hold down-feather blankets and linen sheets. Space remains limited in the room, supplying only a narrow hallway between the beds and to the door.

"As part of A703, you'll be on duty from 6AM to 2PM on Sundays through Wednesdays," Toadbert informed, "But for the next 24 hours, you're here mainly for paperwork and for your basic orientation. I believe Mercenary wants you to return to the HQ tomorrow afternoon, and you won't be back here until a week from Saturday."

"Yes," Luigi confirmed, "Meet me at 6AM tomorrow morning, and we'll get everything done before we leave. For now, just rest up."

"Oh, we'll have some food in the cafeteria in around an hour. Can't forget dinner, by boogity!" Toadbert informed, "It's only us three and a few other staff here. We only have a bit of ostro meat and some pasta. We're practicing our food rations and menus for when this opens."

Toadbert and Luigi exit the room. Roy collapses on the bottom bunk of the bed closest to the room's sole window. In times like these, he misses the luxury of the HQ and even his castle in Dark Land. Nonetheless, he knows something huge will occur during some point in the future.

But what is it? Is it truly the apocalypse? Are the Elder Gods that powerful and destructive? Why would seemingly-perfect beings commit such atrocities?

He'd find out... If only he weren't too tired to even lift himself from his bunk.

Wendy O. Koopa takes a break from practicing her upcoming song in her castle's studio. She steps out of her castle and checks her phone: only Iggy's within her vicinity. She knows Junior's declaration of becoming king, but she's unsure where her younger brother is. Is he ready today, or should she wait to gather the kingdom?

She's curious. The castle's been silent the past few hours; not even armed guards patrol the area. Is Junior even here?

As she steps out of her castle and into the central common area, a drone lowers until its camera stares at her face-to-face. Wendy crosses her arms and raises a brow as she taps her foot.

"Funny, Iggy. Now show yourself before I destroy this stupid flying thing."

Within seconds, the drone broadcasts a live feed of a petrified Iggy.

"No! My treasured, newly-built, hi-tech love! The darling I'd sacrifice my life to!" Iggy shrieked before regaining his composure, "Fine! How'd you know it was me?"

Wendy rolls her eyes, "Because Ludwig's gone, and Junior's not an uncontrollable geek?"

Iggy shrugs, "Fair point."

"But I didn't know you were in Dark Land," Wendy mentioned.

"I came here after the Ice Land riots got too out of control," Iggy replied, "Plus I wanna help with Junior's declaration."

"That's what I'm here about. Do you know where he is?"

"I was reviewing the security footage of all our towers," Iggy responded, "Looks like Junior went into the old dungeon."

Wendy shivers, "Why?"

"Apparently some wand or scepter's underneath there, called the Koopa Scepter or something. When there's a struggle for power in Dark Land, it's been a tradition to bring that scepter out to cement your authority. I heard about it from Dad and Kamek all the time."

"Me too, but they always said the scepters were a myth!"

"Same. I thought it was only a trap to keep using the dungeon," Iggy nodded, "But at the same time, we never explored the dungeon deep enough. Maybe it is down there, but the myth excuse was perpetrated by Dad to prevent us from overthrowing him."

"Why would we go down there? Why the hell would we go through that creepy and ugly place?"

"I mean, the circle of hell known as the first floor's bad enough. Can't imagine what it looks like as you go deeper. I never wanted to explore it just for that reason, but I did want to create an invention one day," Iggy sighed, "But Junior beat me..."

"And Junior's not even afraid of it?"

"He wasn't ever sent to the dungeon as punishment. He doesn't have the trauma like we do. Or, he's crazier than even me."

Wendy sighs, "Right, right. But anyway, should I gather the kingdom together to witness his coronation?"

"That's a good idea," Iggy nodded, "In fact, I can take over the broadcasting airways and announce it there."

Wendy nods, "Get everyone gathered up tomorrow at noon, and I'll make sure Junior's ready."

"Tomorrow at noon. Got it."

Wendy smiles, "Good. It's time we get this show on the road."

As the conversation progresses, Wendy notices Iggy's demeanor transition from excitement at the start to dread just before he signed off. She didn't have the heart to question why, but she already knows: it's either choosing an unknown conspiracy or choosing to go against Lemmy – his brother and best friend.

Wendy doesn't envy Iggy's choice. She can only imagine how difficult that decision would be, but she hopes he makes the correct one. After all, Lemmy's the one who turned on them.

Lemmy loiters near the Mushroom Tower's third floor elevators; unlike his first day here, he eagerly waits for the eighth floor. He's no longer just a piece of meat thrown at a pack of hungry dogs, but the expertise that Council needs.

The elevator dispels its load of mushroomers before Lemmy steps in and pushes for 8. A few other mushroomers join and press their respective floors in the Tower's residential area. The doors close and the elevator rises. Despite being a koopa, the mushroomers smile at him – he never struck fear into their hearts like his siblings did – although no one bothered to converse.

The door to the eighth floor opens, and Lemmy's welcomed by the same small room warranting a nervous wreck, and the same INITIATES sign pointing to Arena F801 his left. Instead, Lemmy opens the door ahead of him, and walks around the arena's outside. On his right side are the multiple Council meeting rooms hosting all 18 of the Complex's committees, worrying from the economy, to agriculture and government oversight – if the Complex had an official Capital, it'd be the Mushroom Tower's 8th floor.

Two high-ranking Mercenary guards patrolling the hallway stop Lemmy, but they let him through when Lemmy shows them his updated Tier 7 credential.

He approaches meeting room F805: the designated meeting room for the Council committee on Economics & Altruistic Affairs. At a mid-sized table, King Boo sits at the head, while Toadette and Crump sit on either side of him. A pig wearing round glasses sits next to Crump, and a middle-aged toad sits two seats from Toadette. Lemmy eyes everyone again before taking his seat by Toadette, who smiles at him.

"Welcome, Lemmy Koopa, to Council's Committee on Economics," King Boo started, "In case you didn't know, not all things are discussed with all sixteen Council at once. Instead, we have committees headed by us in Council. These committees have several Tier 7's, including yourself, who attend and pitch their expertise to pen proposals or bills for Council to vote on. These proposals then go to the Committee on Rules, where they're evaluated by me, Crump and elected Tier 7's before they go to a Council vote. This allows multiple issues to be tackled at once. In fact, our drafted laws come from committees, not from Council meet-ups."

Lemmy nods. That makes sense.

"As the Committee of Economics and Altruistic Affairs directly impact the Altruistic League, it's the job of the vice chair to preside in here on behalf of Council leadership, but as the current events are absolutely vital, I freed up time to be here," King Boo continued, "Me and Crump are both presiding, while Toadette is the committee's leader. Here are the other Tier 7 Committee members aiding us: Professor Chops and Professor Toad."

Both professors nod and smile at Lemmy, who waves back at them.

"Now, I give the floor to Toadette, who has some Excogitate-generated reports for us," King Boo announced.

Toadette pulls out her MIDST and broadcasts it onto the wall opposite King Boo. Multiple graphs showing the indices of Caldera Stock Exchange and other global stock exchanges appear, each showing a downward trend.

"As you know," Toadette started, "The economy's collapsing even as we speak. Caldera collapsed over 15 percent in the past few days, and every other exchange's doing worse. At the request of Council, the stock exchanges the Society controls are all shut down while we try to stabilize everything. Unfortunately, Caldera's not one of those."

"What's to do about Caldera, Chairwoman?" Professor Toad questioned, "Isn't Bowser still in control of it?"

Toadette shakes her head, "To prevent riots, Bowser gave up his power over Dark Land. It's being ruled by his son now."

"That means we should take over the CSE, yeah?" Professor Chops suggested.

Lemmy sulks. He doesn't like the way this meeting's sounding now. Fortunately, Toadette also sees issue with the plan, albeit for differing reasons.

"We can't have control over the CSE, or even have Bowser Junior overthrown. This will solidify Dark Land's support against us. Instead, we need to stabilize everything, and if needed, place blame on him. Lemmy here has a plan on how to do so."

The table turns to Lemmy. The koopaling initially flinches from the attention before forcing himself to relax.

"Oh, right," Lemmy stated, "Well... When there's positive feedback in the economy, it's either booming or collapsing, while it's stable if there's negative feedback. Our goal is to convert the positive feedback into a negative one, and have that negative feedback be the foundation of the stock market. With that stabilized, and investments coming back, the economy will improve."

The characters nod and jot down notes into their MIDSTs.

"So, we need a negative feedback?" Professor Toad questioned, "Such as the good ol' system of supply and demand?"

"Yes," Professor Chops nodded, "The problem is investors act as a positive feedback. To remove their effect, we also need to remove investors. Chairwoman, how do you and Council deal with investors?"

Toadette smiles, "All our wealth is concentrated in one area. It acts as a Super PAC, but it's considered only a basic philanthropist organization to avoid reporting our members or funding sources. It invests money by using numerous false identities. We are by far the richest organization on the face of Plit; we can control the direction of several ticker or even a few sector – we just need to know which ones. As for investors outside the Society? Well... Nothing yet."

"Just modifying my ideas a bit," Lemmy suggested, "But maybe we should worry less about forming a negative feedback loop, and instead get the investors back on board."

Professor Toad shakes his head, "I agree with your original idea. The economy's more complicated than any single feedback issue. The supply-demand loop must be preserved if we want a functioning economy. But investors bring consumer confidence, which will strengthen the supply-demand feedback."

"Yes. So, we have a framework to deal with," Crump added, "That's to artificially inflate the stock market, correct?"

Lemmy nods, "We need to first check on the finance sector and the real estate sector. Those are the two most important sectors that we have to keep solvent. Council should invest in the banks and crediting companies to prevent their collapse."

"I'd also throw in the energy sector and the tech sector," Professor Chops added, "It's haywire right now, but if we keep the energy prices low, then people will spend less money on the essentials and more within the economy. With cheap energy, secured real estate and payable loans, the spending they'll do will stimulate the economy. Also, with a healthier, booming tech sector, much-needed innovations can come quicker."

"Yes," King Boo answered, "That's the plan of Council – to artificially control the prices. This is why you, Professor Toad and Lemmy are part of this committee. We need you energy executives to make vital changes to how we'll lure the world into our sanctuary when the apocalypse comes."

The meeting room becomes silent as Toadette continues her slideshow, transitioning from the graphs to multiple stock ticker symbols.

"Here are the poor performers, and the two sources of the crash," Toadette highlighted $M, $UNSA, $DT and $RBI, "The energy sector and the lumber sector. Lumber affects the real estate market, and the energy affects the tech industry. The real estate and tech markets are bearish, but they're not in recession territory yet. We can still salvage them if we inflate lumber and energy."

"But how can we when the main reason they crashed is because of the bubble?" Professor Toad questioned, "And how will our interference help if our interference formed the bubble in the first place?"

Toadette nods, "Good question. The stock reports indicated little increases in sells, because that report didn't show large-scale buyers for any of them."

"Then perhaps..." Professor Chops suggested, "We need to discipline the commission who published the reports, and we funnel our money back into those sectors. With the declared misprint and the increased investment, the prices can surge again."

Lemmy twiddles his claws. They're getting into insider territory, and he's still uneasy about the entire process. Nonetheless, the others at the table agreed.

"So be it," King Boo announced, "We will pump money back into the sectors, all while blaming Dark Land and the Caldera Stock Exchange for false information. TVK will push the news out as soon as possible."

Lemmy stares wide-eyed at the declaration but cannot speak any words of opposition to the idea. Especially to high-ranking officers.

Instead, he'll have to take things into his own hands.


End file.
